The Golden Princess arrived in the port of Tauranga at 7:45am, and I was up at 6am just in case G decided he wanted to do the 7 hour tour to the geyser parks in Rotorua. He had been waffling about that recently, saying he might want to, but I knew he wouldn’t be happy spending 3 hours round trip just getting there. As it turned out, he, too, realized he wouldn’t, and we walked off the ship about 9am looking at our other options for the day.
After our gorgeous weather here last time, we thought we might walk along the beaches on both sides of the beach town of Mt. Maunganui, named for the volcanic cone we had climbed, and then soak in the hot salt water pools that had been closed for renovation. But as soon as we walked off the ship, it started to rain, and we had a change of plans. Instead we took a local bus into Tauranga, intending to visit The Elms, formerly known as Te Papa Mission Station. Just as we got to the bus stop on The Strand in Tauranga, it started to really pour, so we had to change plans yet again. It was about a 12 minute walk from The Strand to The Elms; we would have been drenched.
We decided to simply stay on the bus to the end of the line and then come back (it would take about an hour) in the hope that the weather might clear. If it didn’t, we would simply ride back to the port. Along the way, we had a good opportunity to view the area just west of Tauranga and see how people live. In the end, the rain did stop by the time we got back to Tauranga, and we got off the bus and walked to The Elms.
The Elms was a mission station built in the mid-1850s by one of the first missionaries in New Zealand. The small station consisted of a main house, a library, a barn, a chapel and a few other outbuildings like a kitchen and a guest house. We were quite impressed with the restoration that has been done in all the buildings, but were especially interested in the barn. G said it looked exactly like a building on his grandfather’s property and it reminded me a great deal of my dad’s garage, with jars of nails and screws and cans of oils and other lubricants. I thought I’d never get G out of there; he was so interested in all the tools and could tell me what most of them were used for after studying them a few minutes.
Chapel
The barn
The laundry
I was also impressed with the beautiful grounds with paths and lots of flowering plants. I took photos of many of them, and want to show them to Destination Expert Wendy Fuller to learn what their names are.
We left The Elms after a couple of hours and G wanted to walk across the Tauranga Bridge, a bridge that connects Tauranga to the Port of Tauranga and the little town of Mt. Maunganui. Because of course he did. ;-) It took us a few minutes and some backtracking to find a way to get up on the sidewalk across the bridge, separated from the traffic by a concrete wall. Once we crossed the bridge, we intended to get a local bus back to the port, but looking at Google Maps showed us that it was almost easier to just walk back to the port rather than walk across the peninsula to the closest bus stop. Actually, what we should have done is walked back across the bridge to a bus stop there, but hindsight is 20/20.
Mt. Maunganui and the Golden Princess from the Tauranga Bridge
No idea what this sign means...
...but we understand this one!We could see the Golden Princess, but the distance back around the port to the cruise ship security gate was deceptively long. We were starting to drag a bit- it was 4pm by then and it had been a long time since cereal and fruit for breakfast- but we made it back to the ship at 4:30pm. We took quick showers and went to dinner in the Bernini Dining Room absolutely famished. I didn’t think we’d even make it to production show Let Us Entertain You, but, just as we finished dinner, Captain Pomata made an announcement. Now, Captain Pomata just doesn’t make announcements, so he had our rapt attention, because we knew something was up.
Sure enough, today’s weather must have been a harbinger of things to come. In fact, tomorrow’s port of Gisborne has decided to close its port for two days due to a low pressure system that is going to bring 40 knot winds gusting to 50 knots, and very rough seas. This is the New Zealand weather we know! There is no option of substituting another port, and we will simply continue at our regular speed toward the next port of call, Wellington, and our progress will allow them to eventually slow the ship down to make it more comfortable when the storm hits.
We’ve missed Wellington in the past due to high winds, and, frankly, I’ll be surprised (but happy) if we get in there the day after tomorrow. Anyway, with at least one unplanned sea day to rest up, we decided to go to the Princess Theater for the show. We can sleep in and be lazy tomorrow...if the seas allow.
