NZ Cruise Diaries – Day 5 (Tauranga)

This morning we woke up early to the most glorious sight: land! We quickly ran out onto the balcony, spotting all the lights of the buildings in the distance, and some tugboats chugging alongside the ship, guiding us in.

To our side was Mount Maunganui, a beautiful mountain that you can hike, but is closed at the moment. Unfortunately, there was a horrible landslide there earlier in the year, where 6 people passed away when the landslide hit the caravan park at its base.

At breakfast, we met up at the restaurant (yay, not the buffet!!) with the rest of the family, so that we could celebrate L’s birthday. We ate a yummy breakfast (seriously, so much better) before we separated from the rest of the group and made our way off the ship. We had told L that he could pick what we did for the day, and his first choice was to go to an arcade.

Coming off the boat, it was my first taste of just how intense it can be in a port. People cram around the exit, offering tours and day excursions, Ubers, taxis, you name it! There were so many signs and boards everywhere. We walked past and kept going into the town, before summoning an Uber to pick us up. We needed the breathing room!

We were back in the land of internet, and managed to find a Timezone at Bayfair Shopping Centre. While the shopping centre itself was open at 9 am, the arcade didn’t open until 10, so we had a bit of time to kill. There was a bookstore, so after exploring for a little bit, L decided he wanted to buy two more books in the Wings of Fire series, a graphic novel series about dragons that he’s really loving.

After that, all L wanted to do was sit down and dive into the book, so when the arcade finally opened at 10, it was a hard sell to get him moving again.

The first game we played at the arcade was a giant lit-up floor, where you “battled” by jumping on the squares to shoot at each other. L and D played, and when L started losing, he absolutely cracked it. He refused to play any further, and got super angry. I kinda wished that D had just thrown the game for L to win (at least just this once, it was his birthday after all).

We coaxed L back into some other games, and at one point he and I were on a ride where the seat shoved you around like you were on a rollercoaster. D occasionally gets vertigo, so when it comes to rollercoasters and rides like this, I have to take one for the team.

We also played bowling (thanks to a guy whose son was over it, so he asked if we wanted the rest of the game), chocolate machines, and my personal favourite – basketball. I was also super excited to find Guitar Hero, but I’ve completely lost my touch in the 20 years since I last played, so I wasn’t very good. They also had a very cool game where you played the drums, and I gave that a couple of goes too.

We managed to win enough tokens so that L could collect some prizes, and to the surprise of no one, hit up the lollies stand. The lady behind the counter was super nice, and gave L an L & P soft drink for free to toast his birthday with. They’re super sweet but really yummy, so of course now that’s all he wants.

After that, the boys decided they wanted to head back to the ship. I refused to go back so early, and instead convinced them to go for a “hike” at Moturiki Island. It was walking distance from the ship, which meant we could easily head back when we were done, and supposedly very beautiful. It’s not really a hike, just a short walk across a sandy causeway, so I’m not even convinced it really counts as an island.

This was probably my favourite part of the whole day. The view was spectacular, and I just love being out and about exploring. I took about a thousand photos and videos as we walked. There was one spot that smelled like seaweed or dead fish (probably due to the number of seagulls around, they probably bring their meals back there). Other than that, the rest was spectacular, and I really enjoyed our walk.

Once we got back to the “mainland”, L and D went to the toilets, and then because I’m an asshole, I made them walk up another hill that I found so I could take more photos.

We walked back into town towards our boat, stopped for lunch at a Greek restaurant in the town (Olive and Fig, food was delicious), and then walked along the path next to the bay. We got absolutely hammered by the wind on this side of the town, and D ended up having to give his jumper to L (on top of the jumper L was already wearing) because he was so cold. Thank god for my puffer jacket!

He wasn’t cold enough for ice cream, apparently.

While it was fun wandering around the town, there wasn’t a whole lot that we wanted to do.

So, we kept walking back to the boat, where we discovered Khing, our room attendant, had decorated the room for L. How cool is the special candle towel decoration!

Then it was time for L to pick the next activity – lay down and read for a bit, followed by more kids’ club. After we dropped him off, D and I went and played basketball on the roof, attempting to play “Around the World”. It’s hard when the wind blows your ball away from the hoop, or at least, that’s my excuse on why I lost, and I’m sticking with it. The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling out.

We had dinner at the Black Pearl restaurant, where I ordered:

• Entree: mozzarella sticks
• Main: chicken caesar salad (come at me fresh produce, yummm)
• Dessert: red velvet cake…. and um, also a chocolate lava cake.

Ok, so I chose two desserts, but here’s the thing. Every time I don’t order a chocolate lava cake I regret it, because whatever I order instead is just not as good. So, tonight I ordered both! It means I can still taste something else to satisfy my FOMO, but still get the goodness of the lava cake. Also, my sister-in-law is now 5 for 5, ordering the lava cake every night. I think she’s onto something.

After dinner it was time for the evening show. Tonight was a juggling act by a comedian, so we took L along to that.

After the show we came back to our cabin, just in time to see the end of the sunset! We’re now operating on New Zealand time, which means the sun is setting just after 8pm. My brain just doesn’t comprehend it. I mean, I come from a state in Australia that refuses to have daylight saving, claiming it will bleach our curtains and confuse the cows! I mean, forget the cows, it just confuses me!

Anyways, I think it’ll be a read-and-pass-out night tonight. We’ve clocked just over 14k steps, and we’re all feeling pretty tired. The little dude did pretty well for all that walking!