Summer Holiday

I'm holidaying with my family in the very lovely picturesque town of Mt. Maunganui. The Mt. situated on Tauranga Harbour’s eastern entrance, is also called Mauao by the Maori.

According to Maori legend,the hill was a pononga [slave] to a mountain called Otanewainuku. The pononga was in love with a hill called Puwhena, but she had already fallen for his captor.

In despair, the nameless hill decided to drown himself and he called upon the fairy people [Patupaiarehe] to assist with his endeavour. The fairies began dragging him toward the sea, however, these nocturnal imps lost track of time, and as they neared the ocean, the rising sun signalled their disappearance.

The nameless one was left in the very place where he still stands, and became known as Mauao, which means “caught by the dawn.”

Today, Mauao still faces day’s first light; as do many who walk his 3.4-km base, which passes by remote beaches and rocky cliffs. Sea lions and whales are often seen in this area and it remains a fantastic standpoint to watch ships head in and out of the Port of Tauranga.

I'm living in a little apartment overlooking the beach and my bedroom window is a vista of the bay and all the boats in it. We were fortunate enough to have a visit from the Dawn Princess yesterday and as she left our shores a whole lot of folk came out to wave her goodbye.

I've been spending the days in a blissful lazy way - lounging and meandering along the beach, swimming, eating (yes lots of that), and enjoying a daily shot of gelato and ice slushies. And much to my mum's horror, I'm getting to be a real darkie. I prefer to call it embracing my brownness.

In short, I'm having an amazingly relaxed, gloriously warm and sunny holiday. What's more I don't have to travel hours in a plane to get here. Mt. Maunganui is only a 3 hour drive and in some way you could say it's not too far past my back yard. And that's why I plan to visit again in the near future.