Mount Maunganui (Mauao)
Accommodation: Thurs 6th Feb – Fri 7th Feb
Thurs 6th Feb : Waitangi Day: a public holiday
It was a 3 1/2 hour drive down to Mount Maunganui (Mauao) but we stopped off along the way at Hot Water Beach, about 30 minutes out of Whitianga. Our timing was perfect: Hot Water Beach is best visited in the two hours either side of low tide and we slotted into that window perfectly. We had read that you simply dig into the sand and you’ll have hot water bubbling up. We found that a little bit hard to believe but, sure enough, that is what we found. They also said you would need a shovel but we didn’t have to worry because there were already large groups of people on the beach with their shovels and water baths already dug out. However, we found that just standing near the water’s edge and digging your feet into the wet sand was sufficient: it was very hot, too hot to withstand. The source of the heat? The exposure of sections of the beach at low tide allows you to dig down in to the watery sand below that is heated by an underlying block of volcanic intrusive rock. This is well worth a detour to visit if you’re ever in the area near low tide.
We made it to Mount Maunganui at around 1.30 pm and found our apartment with ease. Our luck continued as we found the accommodation was in a great location, was lovely and clean and offered magnificent water views out over Pilot Bay. Given we only had the afternoon here, the plan had been to walk the Mauao base track (around the base of Mount Maunganui). However, it was so hot that we decided we would leave that until later in the day when, hopefully, it might cool down a bit. So, instead, we set out for a walk to explore both sides of the peninsula.
We started with a walk down the bay side and found this to be rather like Brighton Le Sands. The public holiday meant there were plenty of people out and about and swimming in the Bay, making the most of the spectacular weather. We then headed to the High Street, that ran up the middle of the Peninsula, and found a great Vietnamese restaurant for a late lunch, Rice Rice Baby, which I’d highly recommend. After lunch, we veered over to the beach side of the peninsula and walked a loop back to our apartment. It was 4 pm by this stage and still way too hot for walking so we deferred for another hour.
Our walk around Maunganui Island (Mauao base track) was lovely and there was a fair bit of shade along the way and a lovely sea breeze to help keep the temperature down. It took us about an hour but that was with some photo stops and a rather delayed one when we spotted a fur seal luxuriating on the rocks not far from our track. It’s definitely an activity to undertake if you’re ever in the area.
It was 6.30 pm by the time we headed back out after our base track walk and we walked back down the High Street to Solera for dinner. The only problem was that our late lunch meant that neither of us were hungry. The place was well reviewed though so we headed their intent of just sharing an entree or two and that is what we did. We sat up at the bar, which is something I’d highly recommend as, like Annabelle reminds us, you are then treated to dinner and a show. The few dishes we sampled were delicious and so this is another place that I’d highly recommend if you’re ever in the area.
We were treated to a bit of a show on the walk home as well with some rather daring hang gliders who were hovering around the top of Mount Maunganui. This was then followed up back at our apartment with a display as the huge cruise ship departed port.
Our time in Mount Maunganui was only short but we’d covered a bit of ground and ticked off the main ‘to do’ items. Most travel blogs that I consulted suggested that a one night stay was sufficient to experience the place and I would tend to agree. Tomorrow we head to Rotorua with a stop on the way for some rail cruising. All will be revealed in the next update.
Just FYI: our apartment was nice, some items were a bit tired, but it had a great view that made it worthwhile. We were in Apartment 27 on the 4th floor with a lift.
