REAL TALK WITH DANIELLE - Travel in Tauranga

We stayed in Tauranga for 3 nights, but not in the city center. Our previous AirBNB host essentially told us Tauranga is boring, and the real sightseeing is only a couple of miles away in Mt Maunganui, so we went there instead. A few locals have told us this is a kind of summer getaway, and, oh boy, did this place deliver. Honestly, these types of suggestions are the reason that meeting locals while traveling is SO helpful! They know their country and they want to share the best parts of it!

In Mt Maunganui we met two French girls who had been traveling for a few weeks and we shared our experiences of being on the road over a few meals. Meeting other travelers is also a really valuable part of the experience for me because I love learning the perspectives of people from other countries. The US can be very insular, and I meet a lot of Americans who have never left the country. A large part of this is that it’s not encouraged in our culture to leave the United States, but a lot of it is also that only people with a certain income can afford it. This stark contrast is very evident in prices of domestic US flights being double or triple the amount that it costs for air travel outside the US. Almost everyone I’ve met outside the US has traveled to or lived in other countries. (One of our AirBNB hosts had been to Bali 20 times!). I also notice that people living outside the US often have an understanding of the political structures in places outside their home country. (I didn’t know who the prime minister of New Zealand was until I got here!) It’s just really eye-opening to have these conversations and raise my awareness of how much more there is to the world than the USA. Besides my soul feeling revitalized, we had a lot of fun in Mt Maunganui:

Activities:

Beach - We stayed in a home literally 20 steps away from the beach. This beach has the most gorgeous and soft sand, and the ocean is so clear and blue. Made for a day to just relax and read a book! (Side note: I’m re-reading the Harry Potter series while on this trip, and Harry’s name just came out of the Goblet of Fire... DRAMA!)

Mt Maunganui - There are two options here: going to the summit or going around the base of the volcano. We did the latter which was an easy hike that offered some stunning views at every turn, whether it was the twisting treetops, waves crashing on the rocks, or the sunny beaches.

Mount Hot Pools - This was something I’d never experienced before! It’s a salt water thermal spa. The water is SO warm. We went in the rain on a cold night, and I actually think this heightened the experience because we went from being super cold to pure warmth. (It was a bitch to get out of there, though!)

Food:

Okay, TBH, we did groceries basically the whole time to save money but we did try some ice cream at:
Copenhagen Cones - You can watch them make their own waffle cones! We tried Hokey Pokey, which is a New Zealand specialty. The flavors are vanilla with honeycomb toffee and tastes kind of like maple syrup!

Travel Tips and Fun Facts:

This was a good time for us to take a relaxation day. Being on this trip is so fun, but some places offer more “must see” activities than others. Mt Maunganui is very much like the retirement communities in South Florida, incredibly stunning but only a few activities. We used a day to reset here after a packed week. Terrance worked on producing music, and I updated my website.

From Mt Maunganui, we headed to Rotorua, and even more exciting... Hobbiton! Check back soon for the next blog to see an incredibly nerdy side of me appear right before your eyes!

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