Down Under Diary - Page 17p

The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur Down Under
November 9 - Papamoa

Today was not a restaurant day. We went out for a hike around Mt.Maunganui, an extinct (we hope!) volcano at the mouth of the harbor. It was a pleasant stroll although the sun in intense down here due to the hole in the ozone layer.

Tauranga Bay Walking around Mt. Maunganui

Norm and Shirley Holden are friends I met originally when I was at the Olympic Training Center and Norm was a coach for the New Zealand judo team. They have finally settled back in New Zealand after nearly 8 years of traveling around Africa, Asia, South America and Canada by land rover, camper, backpack and who know what else. Norm celebrates his 60^th birthday in two weeks, so they just prove that you don't have to be Indiana Jones to be adventurous!

Norm Shirley Holden Chef Shirley at work

After dinner, we went for a stroll along the beach. The beach runs for nearly 25 miles. You can just see Mt. Maunganui sticking up at the far end of the beach. The smaller "lump" on the right is one of the offshore islands.

Mt. Maunganui at sunset

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