Jan. 30

Tauranga is New Zealand’s 5th largest city, with almost 170,000 people. We pulled into a great port location, nestled in the Bay of Plenty, which was a very easy walk to town. There is a nearby white sand beach and Mount Maunganui provides a nice backdrop as well as a hiking opportunity. Lots of passengers chose an excursion to Rotorua to see the geothermal sites and a Maori village. The Maori arrived here in the 13th century. We had visited Rotorua a couple times and concluded that there was a limit to how many times to experience bubbling mud. (Photos below from a shipmate who visited Rotorua).

2008 Maddy and Jackson in Rotorua

So, we took the “included” excursion, “Scenic Bay of Plenty.” It was a good choice.

Our driver/guide took us through green rolling hills and small towns to an area full of kiwi fruit and avocado orchards. It was very pleasant scenery and several things stood out:

   -there was lots of flat land and green rolling hills. The flat land was planted in corn which was used to feed cattle. The rolling hills were home to lots of cattle. We saw way more cattle than sheep.

   -the small towns had lots of little shops. It reminded us of the US before department stores and “big boxes.” It was mentioned that there was a K Mart coming to one of the towns.

   -there was a mattress store that had a big sale. I think that’s an international requirement.

   -lots of small towns have a McDonalds….also an international requirement.

   -one town was named Te Puke. It’s pronounced tay pu kee. The liquor store advertised “wine and liquor Te Puke” –a tough sell if you don’t know the pronunciation.

The extensive Kiwi fruit orchards were impressive. The bushes are loaded with fruit. They’re picked when the sugar content is at the desired level and then chilled to the right temperature. If done correctly, they can last a year. There are 3 kinds of kiwi fruit. We are used to the golden. They have statistics showing how much better they are than oranges and apples with respect to Vitamin C and other nutrients. As you can imagine, they make soaps, oils and liquors which they are happy to sell in their shops.

As we passed a kiwi storage facility, our guide commented that they had just been awarded a $24 million settlement. Evidently, a ship full of kiwi fruit was also full of mice. They ruined the fruit, but certainly became healthier.( My suspicion is that the ship was probably retired from the Holland America fleet and not properly cleaned for kiwi fruit).

Our visit to the kiwi facility featured some young Maoris doing some dancing and singing and a Haka. New Zealanders have carried on the Maori tradition of the Haka. It’s an aggressive dance with lots of offensive motions ending in a “growl” with the tongue stuck out. We learned that the stuck out tongues meant, “when we defeat you, you will taste good.” It used to be a feature of a Maori greeting to strangers which meant “leave and stay away.” Abel Tasman was discouraged from landing when Maori canoes met his ship, gave a rendition of the Haka and in the ensuing “interaction” killed 4 of his sailors. He didn’t land. Today the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby team does the Haka before every match. They didn’t carry on the tradition of killing 4 of their adversaries before the match…….but, they look like they could.

Years ago, when Maddy was 5-6  and Jackson was 2-3, I was recruited to join a Haka exhibition. With no sense of appropriate hand motions or rhythm  I embarrassed my way through and stuck my tongue out at the end. If I could have been embarrassed, I would have been. It was for the kids….but who would ever find out. About an hour later, we took the kids to a park with slides and swings. A woman came up to me and, sort of chuckling, said “nice Haka” in a way that suggested ridicule more than talent. I hope that she no longer lives here or at least has a bad memory.

Upon returning to the ship, Karla still had time to hike up Mt. Manganui. Tough uphill but great views. She returned for takeaway fish and chips, complete with news wrapping.

.