Monday, March 3 Tauranga

45were so glad to see the sun shining this morning!  The sky was glorious when we peeked outside and we were excited to get ready for the day.  After Breakfast with Sharyn and John in the aft section of Deck 11, we headed off of the ship to meet Christine.

A brief note about how we came to have a special personal tour guide on our 2nd day in Tauranga.  I met Christine at the Magnet conference in Atlanta last October when my friend Kim and her husband Larry and I had dinner with our friends from the Hutt Valley District Health Board in NZ and their friend Christine, the Chief Nurse from Tauranga Health Board.  Christine, when she heard I was coming to NZ on this trip, offered to tour us around the area.  AND did she ever fulfill her promise.

She met us promptly at 9 AM outside of the exit from the port where we saw our first view of Mt. Maunganui  Off we went on a 1 1/2  hour drive to the Waimangu volcanic valley.  We drove through the beautiful countryside on winding (think roller coaster!) two lane roads for about 1 hour 15 minutes.  We could never have found this place on our own - few signs and clearly not a major tourist area.  When we arrived in the parking lot, we parked and found a beautifully maintained visitor area with a lovely coffee shop and gift shop.  Art bought tickets for the 45 minute boat ride on the lake...spectacular views of tree ferns, steam vents and boiling water from the rocks.

After our geothermal excursion, we had lunch at Fat Dog's in Rotorua (the food was good, fattening (thus the name) and local).  A drive back to Tauranga on even more roller coaster roads took us in search of a $1 or $2 store in Tauranga where we could buy additional books and school supplies for the children of Christmas Island (Kiribati) - quite an adventure.  The first store had closed, then we tried K-msrt - where most children's books were between 6 and 16 dollars - and finally to a lovely $2 store in Tauranga where we bought more school supplies at one time than the clerks had ever seen.  But just what we needed.  We said our fond farewells to wonderful Christine and returned to the ship in time for our daily ice cream fix, and drinks on the balcony as we set off for 3 wonderful and relaxing days at sea

We were happy for casual dress for dinner tonight and after dinner went to the evening entertainment - a very talented multi-instrumentalist who also sang and danced.  Very rocky and rough seas and the walk back to our cabin make us look like we had a few too many with or after dinner :)  Off to sleep in our rocking bed and slept very well (did take a Bonine beforehand!)