Beach Town, Jungle Tramp, and Thermal Pools….

The next morning, the kids for various camp activities had descended upon us and we headed out.

Not far from Tauranga is the seaside village of Maunganui.  It started off very foggy and we stopped in the actual town at a Starbucks to avail ourselves of WiFi.  We walked around and got a geocache near some huge Pohutokawa trees between town center and the beach road.  And then parked right along the beach as the fog was lifting.

Our intent was to climb Mount Maunganui, but the fog prevailed on the inland side and we decided to head out to Moturiki Island, which was currently walkable, instead.  We had lunch in the van, right at the beach, and then headed on.

Driving over the hill towards Matamata, we were met with quite a squall, but it all cleared up by the time we got to our destination, Wairere Falls.  You could see the falls from the road at times, but the hike to them took a good 45 minutes to the viewing platform.  The end had a several story-high staircase.  You could hike further to the top of the falls, but we decided to take our photos and head back.

We made our way to Waikite Valley Thermal Pools, where we had reserved a site for the night.  The great thing about camping at Waikite Valley is that for a few dollars more than a typical campsite, you have free entry to natural mineral pools.  Fred and I soaked for 20-30 minutes and about the time our skin was starting to prune, we wandered back to our campervan.  They had a popular kitchen facility and we took advantage of the hot showers and laundry there.

The Adventure Continues>>>