Tauranga and the Beach at Mount Maunganui

Tauranga, New Zealand (pronounced, roughly, like "tow'r anga") is the largest city in the Bay of Plenty region, and while we were there we had the pleasure of staying with Jen and Mike, two friendly and gregarious kiwis who hosted us in their beautiful home on the hills outside of town.



The view, the conversation and the dinner we shared with them were wonderful. And if you'd like more information on the website that enabled Laura and me to meet up with great local hosts like these--not only in New Zealand but all over the world--take a look at our post on Couchsurfing elsewhere in this travel blog. Jen and Mike are an excellent advertisement for why Couchsurfing works, and we couldn't believe how much fun it was chatting with them and learning all about their country and community.

Jen's raised beds for next year's garden:


Jen's and Mike's adorable new kitties:


And thanks to their advice, we spent the next day driving around the vicinity of Mount Maunganui, a beautiful park and beach area with beautiful vistas, uncrowded beaches, and some--but not too much--property development. It reminded us of a less-crowded and more casual version of Miami's South Beach.



It's the peak season right now, so were expecting many more people to be around, soaking up the sun. Laura and I sat down in a shady place and enjoyed a delicious lunch while watching the waves.




Tauranga is one of the fastest growing cities in New Zealand, and once you visit their beautiful beach area, you'll see one of the reasons why.

Sadly, it was an all-too-brief stay here in Tauranga: we didn't even get to see much of the city itself. But we have a ferry to catch back to the South Island in just a few days, so we need to get going.

And besides, we know we're going to come back here.