08.30.08: After leaving the winery in Bethlehem, we hit the nearby town of Tauranga. Past that was a stretch of beach along a peninsula. Because it was lined with pine trees, it reminded us of Manly Beach in Australia. Although this is a surfable beach, again the water was flat. Just our luck! At the very tip of the peninsula is Mount Manganui. It seems like such a strange sight that there’s this little volcanic mountain that sticks off the end off that tip of land, but there it is. You can hike up it. As well, there’s a campground at the base that has hot springs. I wasn’t too keen with the fact that they were chlorinated, so we passed and went further down the road.
We drove down the coast until we came upon another Top 10 campground at Papamoa Beach. We didn’t spend more than a night there, but do have to give mention of what great beachfront facilities they had there. The playground had what they called a “jumping pillow”, which was a big inflated “pillow” set into the ground for kids to jump on, just like the one at our campground in Ondres, France. (See Kai on it in blog entry dated March 12, 2008.) The bathrooms were worth mention too, with details like the marble tiled floors/walls and Hans Grohe faucets.
The next morning, we went to a café for some good stomach-filling Sunday brunch, another one for some free internet time and a Happy Birthday call to Sean’s mom. And then, we hit the road again. For the first time, we headed inland, towards Lake Rotorua.
It seems like, since we’ve come south of Auckland, that there are generally more people than in the Northland. But still, this country is so peaceful and less populated than so many other parts of the world. This, along with all the beautiful scenery and beaches, it is really starting to make me feel like I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in years! Yes, we ARE enjoying New Zealand immensely!
We drove down the coast until we came upon another Top 10 campground at Papamoa Beach. We didn’t spend more than a night there, but do have to give mention of what great beachfront facilities they had there. The playground had what they called a “jumping pillow”, which was a big inflated “pillow” set into the ground for kids to jump on, just like the one at our campground in Ondres, France. (See Kai on it in blog entry dated March 12, 2008.) The bathrooms were worth mention too, with details like the marble tiled floors/walls and Hans Grohe faucets.
The next morning, we went to a café for some good stomach-filling Sunday brunch, another one for some free internet time and a Happy Birthday call to Sean’s mom. And then, we hit the road again. For the first time, we headed inland, towards Lake Rotorua.
It seems like, since we’ve come south of Auckland, that there are generally more people than in the Northland. But still, this country is so peaceful and less populated than so many other parts of the world. This, along with all the beautiful scenery and beaches, it is really starting to make me feel like I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in years! Yes, we ARE enjoying New Zealand immensely!
1 comment:
This was the first campground we stayed at. Kinda spoiled us for the rest of the trip. It was sporatically rainy but warmer when we were there. I think it just always rains there, hense why it's so green. It's fun to re-live our trip through you and to hear about all the different things you all have done. And I'm soooo jealous of all the wine tasting you've done. Sounds fabulous. Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!
love,
Heather
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