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Kia Ora, and be prepared for a long article, with many many pictures ;)
Because indeed I have much to say, and the reason for that is pretty simple : I've spent a wonderful week end :) I went to Tauranga, a city on the Northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. I took the bus there, and spent the first night in Tauranga itself, in a crappy backpackers :( But on the following day, my travelling buddy and I went for a walk around the city, and ended up walking for about 10-15km around the harbour, through fields and across bridges, to finally arrive to the ocean. We had lunch and had a nap, to finally walk our last 4km barefoot on the beach. We could see Mt Maunganui in the distance.
Around the harbour and on the beach (click to expand!)
Mt Maunganui is a volcano, and also the name of the small town at his foot. That was our next destination ! We went through that town, and must say I've been pretty amazed ;) Indeed, the scenery was incredible : a vivid blue sea was surrounding the town on every side (actually it's a peninsula with the mountain at the tip), small rocky islands around, palm trees and endless white beaches. But what made it even more valuable to my eyes was the atmosphere : it's a very tiny place, where people have a very laid back behaviour. No one's in a hurry, everyone's walking slowly in the streets and along the shores. And there were lots of surfers, who may also bring something to make that place special. I will try to take a surfing lesson, it seems cool :)
In Mount Maunganui
We continued the day climbing on one of the island and the mountain while the sun was going down. The view was incredibly beautiful and I took a lot of pictures! Just imagine : green fields, rocky cliffs above a sandy beach, sheep all around, an infinite view on the ocean and the sun setting. It was just perfect.
Climbing the mountain at dusk
In the end, we watched the sunset from top of the mountain, and it was just pure magic ! I was puzzled : we were climbing during the whole sunset, and at every corner we couldn't go without stopping and staring at the amazing game between the lights and the clouds above our heads. We eventually stopped in an open area and sat under the fiery spectacle that was given to us.
Sunset over Bay of Plenty
We spent the night in a much better backpackers, and woke up early to, this time, watch the sunrise from one of the small islands : it was also very beautiful. I think I preferred watching the sunrise, but it wasn't as pretty as the sunset. But the atmosphere was not the same, and that's probably why I preferred it. We even saw some surfers already tasting the waves !
Sunrise on the Bay of plenty ;)
The last thing we did was going for a walk around the mountain and for a boat trip. And again (sorry but I think it's gonna be like this for a long time XD), a new wonder was waiting for us past every corner. The wind was blowing and the waves were strong against the rocks, and every time we could feel the breeze charges with water coming to us, walking under the trees. The mountain was above us, and the sky was blue. A perfect day. The boat trip was really nice as well, and we did a guided tour of the bay, going along desert sandy islands. They actually made me think of Sweden (yep, that's not gonna change either :p ) : small and big flat islands covered by pine forests, each one with a small wooden bridge on the edge.
Around the mountain
We finally came back to Hamilton at the end of the day, our eyes full of amazing sceneries and our minds refreshed by so much beauty. Maybe my best week end so far !
Next time, I'll tell you about the day (the night in fact) when I saw a kiwi in the wild, already one month ago !
See you soon
Mig
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