Tauranga, New Zealand 2026
We spent the Ides of March (March 15) in Tauranga. We had been here once before and had a great time visiting Rotorua, a Maori village located in an area of steam vents and geysers. https://baderjournal.com/2018/06/18/tauranga-rotorua-new-zealand/ This visit was more relaxed as we stayed in Tauranga itself and explored it on foot.
Tauranga is the fifth largest city in New Zealand with a population of about 160,000. The Maori settled here in the 13th century and the English colonized it early in the 19th century. During the 1860’s it was an area of armed conflict during the New Zealand Wars. The site is divided between the mainland on the shore of the harbor and a peninsula in the center of the harbor with an extinct volcano at its seaward tip. We were docked in Tauranga harbor on the east side of the peninsula. We left the ship in mid morning.
Before reaching Maunganui Road we came to a very nice green area called Coronation Park. It hosts family activities like picnics, markets and special events. We visited on a Sunday, which is market day at the park, and there were long rows of vendor stalls selling clothing, food and other items. The park had a stream where we had a shady walk before braving the sun again back on the street.
Mary had an interactive map on her phone and we decided to use it to find the library. Sometimes it is more confusing than helpful and this was one of those times. We walked around for a good while through mostly residential neighborhoods before finally returning to walk down Maunganui Road where we found the library. This is not the city’s central library, which is on the mainland, but a branch. Unfortunately it is closed on Sunday but we took some pictures outside.
After that we walked back the way we had come on Maunganui Road toward Mount Maunganui, the extinct volcano at the end of the peninsula. There is a path around the base of the mountain we hoped to walk. The west side of the peninsula, opposite the cruise ship dock, has long and wide sand beaches reputed to be the best in New Zealand and one of the 25 best beaches in the world (wonder how that is measured?). But it was a very hot and humid day (like so many on this trip) and Mary still hadn’t fully recovered her energy level from her illness so we didn’t walk over to the beach but continued toward the mountain.
As we finally neared the mountain it began to loom over the fairly tall white buildings on either side of the road. These buildings are probably homes to folks who live here but this is really a beach town and we are sure that some of the apartments are rented to vacationers. After all that walking in the heat it turned out that the mountain path was closed because a major landslide in January, just a few weeks before we arrived, killed at least six people and made the path too dangerous. At the foot of the mountain where the road begins is a facility with hot pools that is supposed to be nice. Even if we had wanted to visit it we couldn’t because it was closed for renovations.
So that sums up our touring day in port . . . three places visited and three places closed. At least the mountain covered in green was nice to look at. It is a 760 foot tall lava dome. The mountain’s last eruption has been dated to more than 2 million years ago.
We walked back up Maunganui Road and stopped for lunch at a place called “Latitude 37.” We sat at a shaded table on the sidewalk and watched the action (it is a pretty busy street) while we ate plates of really delicious fish and chips that were too big to finish. When ready to leave we went inside to pay and the woman in charge ran outside to get our plates. It seems they have an ongoing dispute with the local seagulls, who consider leftover fish and chips a gourmet treat. Completely satiated we walked back to the dock and reboarded the Zaandam.
There was a celebration at our table at dinner because it was Mary’s **th birthday. A small birthday cake was provided by our waiters (and the kitchen of course) and all the waiters in the area gathered around our table with our lead waiter Pande to sing the Indonesian birthday song. This is always fun. With all the people in the dining room you hear at least one of these celebrations on most days but its always better when its at your table. Everybody, especially the waiters, enjoy the singing and then, of course, you get to eat the cake! When we got back to our room after dinner it had been decorated for the occasion by our room stewards, May and Dey. A nice way to end the day.
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