Tauranga/ Day 23 ( Saturday, Feb.11/2023)

 The day began sunny but cool...only 15 degrees C. No shorts today.

Tauranga is located on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island at the natural harbour in the Bay of Plenty. It has a semi tropical climate where the warm humid summer days of December to February  see temperatures around 25 degrees C. Winter sets in around June and continues through August with the average temperatute of 14 degrees C

I got a few pictures of the mountain as we entered the harbour. This is another beautiful place like The Bay of Islands.

Statue of Tangaroa

The statue of Tangaroa – bronze in colour – represents the Tangaroa, God of the Sea in Maori culture, whose duty is to protect the sea and all of its inhabitants. Sculpturist Frank Szirmay erected the statue in 1976, where it stood grasping a taiaha (a long club fighting staff) and watching proudly over the sea for decades. In recent years, with the blessing of local Kaumatua Morehu Ngatoko and Kihi Ngatai, the statue of Tangaroa has been moved to face harbour visitors, to determine whether their intentions are friendly.

The plan is to have breakfast and explore on our own. It is a small place and it is easy walking. 

Because this is Saturday on the ship it means that it is Hide A Duck day. After breakfast and before we left the ship we did that chore.

We left the ship and turned right and almost immediately we came upon a Show and Shine Display.

It seemed to feature mainly Volkswagons of all sizes and ages and shapes.

This was being held in conjunction with an amazing craft market. There were dozens of very skilled crafts people selling their wares. 

This park was beautiful with many places to picnic and just enjoy the beauty of it.

As we left the park we stumbled across a group of local artists selling their paintings. Of course I had to check it out. Their work was good and their prices were high.

We continued and even though a lot of our walking was on pavement our legs and knees were beginning to object. Ken sat on a bench and chatted with an RV er from a near by park and I went and got us some water.  I mentioned wanting to find a souvenir of the area and he told us that had we turned left instead of right at the art display we would have come to shops like that. So of course we had to head in that direction. He was correct and I got a decoration for the tree.

Next we continued toward the beach and eventually the ship. By now it was much warmer and I had removed my jacket as did Ken. BUT we could not believe that there were children swimming

 and playing in the water. This was a beautiful sandy beach area with benches where you could sit and 

 enjoy the ocean.

Next we headed for the ship. Legs were complaining and it was time for lunch.

After lunch we checked and learned that the duck has a new home. No longer nestled in the captain's arm. 

This evening we heard from the captain. Cyclone Gabrielle has changed our plans. Current forcasts show Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle moving southeastward through the Coral Sea toward Northern New Zealand. We have been advised by authorities that port closures are forthcoming along our scheduled route. As the ports at our scheduled calls may likely be closed upon our arrival due to high winds and heavy seas,and as the safety of our guests and crew is always our highest priority, we have made the necessary decision to cancel our scheduled calls to Picton, Wellington, and New Plymouth.

We will instead sail through the Cook Strait to Melbourne, Australia arriving at 6:00 AM on Thursday, February 16 and departing at 8:00 pm on Thursday February 16. 

While we may still experience some rough seas, this should enable us to avoid the worst of the weather system and provide you with the most comfortable cruise.

So now we know what will be happening between now and next Saturday. Melbourne will be added and we will finish our cruise in Sydney on February 18th

.

I will blog when I can to let you know just how rough it gets. The Island Princess is Rocking already..