Making the most of a town with a relatively flat topography
The trick was finding a route back to the motel that avoided passing pubs with outdoor seating
The second part of my road trip was Mount Maunganui. The last time I went there was in January 2003, and Justin Timberlake’s Justified was the soundtrack. Prior to that, it was several family holidays in the early 80s, including one time when we stayed at a house with fleas.
Now Mount Maunganui has grown up and it’s full of apartment blocks and cars. Electric cars! I don’t know if I have enough memories to miss anything from the old days, but some people do.
It’s fine how it is, no really, go for a walk
Off the main ocean beach at Mount Maunganui is Moturiki, a small island close enough to the beach that it’s possible to walk to it without getting your feet wet.
In pre-colonial times it was the location of a terraced pā, then the Crown grabbed it and quarried for rock, until the 1920s. In 1966 a marine park was opened, complete with dolphins (no!). That was turned into Leisure Island, a water park for humans.
Leisure Island closed in 1990 and all traces of the water park were removed. Moturiki island is now a popular walk and climbing area. It’s also the home of kororā (little blue penguins).
Ok, but some people want Leisure Island to return. In 2015, a petition gathered 1688 signatures and was presented to the Tauranga City Council, from people wanting a “great water fun park on the island”.
On the face of it, it seems strange that in a place with an ocean beach, a harbour beach and iconic saltwater hot pools that some locals would also desire a waterpark.
But I feel like the driving force is the same thing that’s behind most “bring back” petitions. It’s nostalgia. Because even if Leisure Island did return, it’s not like they could just wheel the 1980s version out of a storage locker, put some Bay City Rollers on the loudspeakers and everyone would be partying like it was 1979.
In 2022, its nice place to walk. Most of it is in the shade, away from the cruel summer sun. As well, it’s not as popular as the Mount Maunganui base walk so you can enjoy the stroll without it feeling like the Round The Bays starting line.
(I’m not going to talk about how I didn’t pack any beach-friendly shoes so had to trudge across the sand in my sneakers and sand got everywhere, even ending up in my motel bed.)
Did something happen?
I visited The Elms | Te Papa Tauranga, a historic site in Tauranga which includes the old mission house, one of the oldest buildings in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The tour guide had lots of useful history and information to share. And she just casually mentioned that the building had fire alarms, sprinklers, CCTV. And the guide herself was wearing a panic button, that when pressed would summon the police.
I didn’t ask her about it, but is it normal for a historic house guide to have a panic alarm? It made me wonder, did something happen in the past?
But how do you answer that, because literally, yeah, something happened. The Battle of Gate Pā happened in 1864. That’s something.
Maybe it’s just a case of they got some funding for security and decided to spend it on that. Or maybe… something happened.
Tauranga is the only New Zealand city that does not have a museum.
Who wants a beach beach?
Ugh, I did an Instagram poll asking which Mount Maunganui beach was the best and the overwhelming answer was the ocean beach, which is the wrong answer.
It’s obviously the harbour beach, Pilot Bay beach. It’s just nicer, there, more chill. And there’s a boardwalk now so it’s a good place to walk.
Sure, the ocean beach is fine, but it’s the ocean beach. It’s an obnoxious beach beach, where everyone is living their beach dreams and playing beach volleyball.
To put it another way, the ocean beach is not a beach where you would enjoy a cold can of Sprite.
(Maybe I’m used to Raglan, which doesn’t have any beach beaches. The sand is black iron sand, the surf beach is rocks. And it all has a looming gothic feeling. Beach beaches don’t do that. I will expand on this in the future.)
Next week… maybe the video I want 2 share will be un-geoblocked and/or I will share my theory of pastry-based travel.