May 18 Tauranga

On a grey cloudy Wednesday with spitting rain, we pulled into the port of Tauranga.  This is a popular beach resort in the summer, but we're here in the middle of autumn.  We're the last cruise ship to visit this season.  A barber shop in the business district had the list posted, and the next ship appears in October.  And the list was about 100 visits long, it's a popular place.

 Using a tug boat to tug us around in the small harbor

We just walked around the beach resort area, since we had visited Rotorua area on our Australia/New Zealand trip of 11 years ago. 

A scuba class, working on rescue actions.  A little later they were taking turns being "panicked" divers to allow others to rescue them.

 Mount Maunganui.  We didn't climb it, but did walk around part of the base.

 Public BBQ

 Remnants of the old historic jetty

 Felt right at home here, since we have kite surfers right outside our condo in Boca.

 spotted at the campground

 A nice little shopping area with some upscale shops, and the ubiquitous T-shirt shops.

  Just as we had finished our walk around the beaches and shopping area, the skies opened up.  For about fifteen minutes it was really pouring.  We waited under shelter (across the street from the bus stop) and when it finally eased up, we went the last 300 meters to the ship.  The wind was so strong, funneled between the ship and a warehouse that it was almost impossible to walk up the gangway.