Bay Of Plenty - It Is All Downhill From Here

The ferry ride from Picton on the South Island to Wellington on the North Island took 3.5 hours. It was smooth sailing. After a quick Starbucks stop in Wellington we took turns driving. We reached Tauranga in Bay of Plenty 522km and 7 hours later. We wanted to get another ocean swim in. Some local people suggested we go to Tauranga, if we wanted warm water. That was really important to us because we only had two nights to spare before returning the Spaceship in Auckland.

Bay of Plenty is one of NZ's most popular holiday spots due to the long picturesque white-sand beaches, it's low-key seaside, and plenty of activities to chose from. 

Tauranga

We spent the first night in Tauranga, which has one of NZ's fastest growing populations. We had dinner on The Strand, which is buzzing with bars and restaurants- especially on a Friday evening on the officially last day of summer!

Mt. Maunganui 

Mt. Maunganui is a resort-like town with white-sand beaches and the iconic cone-shaped extinct volcano Mauao overlooking the town. 

We did our last hike in NZ to the top of this 232m hill, often called 'the Mont', and had some spectacular views of the peninsula.

Then a last warm swim in the Pacific Ocean in NZ, and a Danish ice cream.....

We spent the last two days of our round the world trip in Auckland preparing physically and mentally to go home. Neither was an easy task!