Tauranga

Oh my God, these people live in paradise! What a way to finish our visit to New Zealand. We had a 2-hour highlights tour this morning which took us to the base of Mount Maunganui; it’s not a huge mountain, only 761 feet tall, but as our tour guide side, in this region of New Zealand, there isn’t much competition!

We finally saw some sheep but according to our guide sheep farming is diminishing and the islanders are diversifying, some are increasing their dairy herd and others are turning to deer.

We went to a kiwi fruit farm, I’m not sure I knew that they grow on vines but there they were. The fruits were very recognisable as kiwi because the harvest is only two or three weeks away. Apparently, they literally “can’t get the staff” and end up importing workers from neighbouring islands. It is said their wages for the three month harvest can be as much as two years’ salary. It is government stipulation that the workers are provided with accommodation, a minimum wage and high speed internet so they can remain in contact with their family 🙂 There are some in this picture, I promise!

Our guide told us that Tauranga is a wealthy place but very much a retirement place. Well, if that’s retirement and I’m encouraged to go into sheltered housing, send my pension to New Zealand!

A walk around the town this afternoon led to a late lunch of fish chowder and shrimp tacos. We’ve had chowder in San Francisco and didn’t think it could be beaten, but today’s bowl full was amazing.

They are so lucky that they can grow anything here … apparently, avocado trees are almost a pest and the road back to the ship was lined with figs which are left to decay on the path and olive trees groaning with fruit.

Back to the ship in preparation for a two day trip to Fiji, this has been on my bucket list for ages although I’ve got no idea what we’re going to do there! I wonder if we can hire a jet ski, that should give Chris a throttle to play with! However, no day is complete with a motorcycle pic! You could hire these for a trip round the island.