Now we are driving 106km NE to Mount Maunganui. This town stands at the base of the 232m hill or mount, which the town is named after and is situated on a narrow peninsula. Mt Maunganui is a popular holiday resort town for the Kiwis but also a popular tourist attraction for visitors. Shopping, dining, entertainment, white beaches, beautiful homes and awesome views basically sum up the town. It was a nice drive through the town to the Mount where our hotel was. The weather cleared up and now it is warm and sunny and we checked-in to our hotel.
It has been a long day already and it's only late afternoon. This is our first overnight stop and were so excited for a shower and a bed to sleep in. We haven't eaten anything since the flight so we decide to go for a walk on the main strip for food. We are trying to find a good place to eat, but it looked as if all the dining establishments were closed. We checked out menus and a couple of stores and eventually we found an open restaurant. We think maybe that after breakfast and afternoon tea, people don't eat until supper around here. Dan had a burger and I had grilled cheese and all I have to say is that this tastes way different than than it does at home.
The main reason we visited Mt. Maunganui was to walk the trails up the Mount, so this was our next activity. First we walked around the base track and then realized we were crazy if we were going to do this, so after we circled the mount we got off to buy water. Dan asked me if I was sure if I wanted to do this. Of course I was sure! The trail was very steep and at times even scary, but up, up we went. I had never even hiked before so this was new to me and I was so excited. It was exhausting and I even felt like I was going to die at times, but this was something that I had really wanted to do. I'm not going to lie - it was hard! We watched countless people give up and turn around. But we were really having alot of fun and we couldn't wait to be rewarded once we reached the top. Finally, we made it and I can honestly say this was the most breathtaking view I had ever seen. What an exhilarating experience for the both of us!
We slept like babies that night.
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