Day 30 - 3 February 2024

This morning I awoke  early-ish (well, I'd already left the hotel by that time yesterday). Last night before retiring it was raining. I went to breakfast and it was still raining.

After breakfast I returned to my room and tried to call Mum. She wasn't answering so I had a video call with my brother, and when his dinner turned up it seemed a good time to try Mum again; this time she did answer, and we had a good chat. 

I did say to her that it was raining here, but that wasn't going to put me off my plans. I have a memory of Mum and Dad taking us out in the rain in Cornwall, and as we left the hotel other guests saying 'you're not taking those poor boys out in that weather'. Some of my fondest family memories are of going out in Cornwall on rainy days with Mum, Dad and Alan, so a bit of rain isn't going to stop me now!

As it turns out, it was dry as I left the hotel and walked about 100 yards to the nearest bus stop. After a 10 minute wait, the bus arrived and I boarded to explore Mount Maunganui. We went past Blake Park, where I'll need to get off for the cricket tomorrow, and I left the bus in the middle of Mount Maunganui town.

I think the best way I can describe Mount Maunganui is that it reminded me of Great Yarmouth, but with one redeeming feature that Great Yarmouth doesn't have. At the end of the peninsula there is a bit of a hill that gives the place it's name (I've yet to figure what's so 'Great' about Yarmouth). A picture paints a thousand words, so here's what I'm talking about:-

After a wander through the town, purchasing some factor 50 sun cream for the cricket, I found my way to the bottom of the paths up Mount Maunganui; one of the images I had in my mind since planning this trip has been of taking pictures at the top. Funny how these mental pictures never include anything about the work needed to get to the summit!

My legs were still complaining about yesterday, but off I set off up the first climb. I then came to a sign that gave me the options for the summit; a steep path of 1300m, or a steep path of 880m. Sounds a bit like Hobsons choice, but I decided that the 880m option would be the one I took. I soon started to regret my choice as I encountered flight after flight of steps, most of which were in the baking sum. I had a couple of stops where I did find a bit of shade to have a drink, but it was hard going and that stubborn streak I have came to the fore once again. After 45 minutes of climbing I finally reached the summit at 232 metres above sea level. As I'd started at pretty much sea level I thought this was a fair effort.

I spent a quarter hour getting my breath and cooling down in the wonderful breeze, then started taking photo and video footage of the fantastic views from up here. The sun was still blazing, but all around to the north, south and west I could see that the heavens were opening. It was still dry here though.

After a half hour or so at the summit, I figured that my knees probably wouldn't appreciate going down all of those stairs, so I took the longer route that I'd earlier rejected as my way down. It was very steep on the way down, and I realised I'd made the correct decision about which route to ascend on. Still, I don't like hiking downhill, so it was a very slow descent. 

About half way down the rain seemed to catch up with me, so I put on the waterproof cover for my backpack and my rain jacket. Five minutes later they were off again as the shower had passed, but when I was within sight of the bottom the heavens properly opened. I'd just had time to get the rain jacket and backpack waterproof cover out again and took shelter in a copse of trees as it really did hammer down. It was quite amusing to watch those with no rain gear running for cover below me!

Once the rain had passed, I made my way into town and then along the beach to get some photos and videos; again the pictures I'd imagined in the planning. I made my way to the centre of Mount Maunganui town and found a bar for a well deserved beer. While I was there I decided that it would be a good idea to see where the nearest bus stop was for the journey home, and it turned out to be about 20 yards away. The bus arrived within minutes of me waiting in the rain, so I boarded and was back at my hotel at just before 15:00.

As I arrived back at the hotel, a re-run of the first 6 nations game from last night was just starting, so I sat and watched Ireland beat France. Then back to the room and that's about all for today.

A Tim-Tams update after buying a selection a few days ago ..... the double coated ones are wonderful, but I'm not so keen on the white chocolate ones which seem a little bland. I'll have to keep my eyes open for other varieties. I'll test these things out so you don't have to; can I claim it's a public service? Of course, past performance isn't necessarily a guide to future performance, so I'll obviously have to keep testing in order to check the validity of the results.