Te Puna to Mount Maunganui

Today I did not really ride, all I did was go to the other side of town to a new campground on the beach. It was a total of about 15 miles of riding. I wandered around Tauranga city for a while checking out the marina and things. Kiwis sure like their boats. There were yachts and power boats of every size and description in the marina. This is a major port for New Zealand so there was lots of action loading and unloading boats. New Zealand exports a lot of timber. Most of it goes to China or Japan for chipping into paper. It is a shame really because the wood seems to be a good quality softwood but almost a hardwood type that I would think would be worth more as lumber but then again I am just an ignorant observer.

The area my new camp is in is a very popular tourist spot with beautiful ocean beaches or beaches in the bay. Lots of wind surfing going on, rental boats, rental sail boats, rental bikes, harbor and fishing tours. Lots of people and action. I think I will spend the day people watching and just have a lazy day. If I could walk there are a lot of good hiking trails in this area. Everybody says the views from up on top of the mount here are to die for. Unfortunately for me that is just what would happen if I tried to walk up there, I would die.

If I had the money I would go fishing but that is out of my budget. My costs here in NZ are way higher than I expected. The campground was NZ$26 plus $7 for use of the hot pools, food is almost always $20 a meal and tea coffee etc are about $5. I get 5 NZ dollars for 4 US dollars but still I am spending more than I have available to me here. It may hit the fan before it is time to go home from Australia. Such is life. I do not worry. Only a few pics today.