This is our third call at Mt. Maunganui, the port for Tauranga, New Zealand.  In three calls we have yet to set foot in Tauranga proper.  Tauranga means “Anchorage” in the local Māori language. The Mount, as Mt. Maunganui is called locally, used to be a separate borough, a beach front suburb.  But since a bay bridge was completed in 1988 Tauranga (like Anchorage, Alaska) incorporated the surrounding communities.    

The Mount is the kickoff point for the Rotorua geothermal area.  We visited there on our last call.  On both this call and the first one it had been my intention to go into Tauranga proper, but each time we ended up in conversations with local people and never left The Mount. See the post of our first visit here.

Mt. Maunganui is a peninsula made up of a sand bar that connects the Mt. Maunganui volcanic cone to the mainland.  It encloses what Captain Cook named “The Bay of Plenty” because it had rich marine life that could sustain a community.  On the ocean side of the peninsula is a sandy surfing beach, on the bay side is a beach with calm waters, perfect for families with little kids. And it has a boardwalk!

Our first local encounter was right outside the port gate were the “Seashell Sisters,” nine and ten year old girls who had set up a table.  They sold shell jewelry.  One girl called out, “Where are you from.”

“Alaska!”

“I have a friend named Alaska but she had never been there.  She wants to go.”  (Eight years ago, we found a man who owned a construction company here, he was wearing an “Alaska Construction” jacket.  He loved America and Alaska so much he named his company Alaska.  He wanted to go.  I wonder if he has a daughter.)  

One of the Seashell Sisters was an excellent saleslady with a good pitch. The sisters had some digital scenic backgrounds.  They could take your picture, insert a background and make a poster for you.  We didn’t need a poster but Suzi bought a seashell bracelet.  While they were good salesgirls, they hadn’t quite figured out exchange rates.  The New Zealand dollar is worth about 59 US cents.  The girls took either currency.  Suzi paid in New Zealand dollars.  The sisters made change in US dollars.  That would have shortchanged them.  Suzi bought a second bracelet so the young entrepreneurs would not have to make change in US dollars and shortchange themselves.  

While Suzi was negotiating a woman, who heard I was from Alaska stopped to chat.  She’s from Tauranga.  They have had an appalling summer, rainy and cold.  This was the first good day in weeks.  She said traffic to The Mount was bumper to bumper with people wanting to get out and enjoy this Sunday at the beach.  She told me the weekend market was going on in the park.  I was delighted because the first time we were here there was also a weekend market.  We met an artist who had worked with Sitkan Dave Galanin when he was in New Zealand learning Māori art forms and teaching Tlingit formline to local crafts people.  We spent hours talking that day.

This time there was only one craftsmen in the market, making rings out of coins.  The rest of it was a flea market, with some bargains on clothes, but we were not in the market for clothes so we walked down the streets with shops and coffee bars to the ocean beach.  We stopped at the same place we stopped six years ago.  Same location at least, but now a Greek restaurant.  Instead of my macchiato I had a Greek coffee with baclava. 

In New Zealand it is the custom to smile, nod and say hi to people you pass on the street whether you know them or not.  And perhaps stop for a chat.  “Welcome, where are you visiting from?”  is a common greeting. When I say “Alaska” a conversation almost always follows.  Reality TV has raised the profile of our state and I get questions about sled dogs, fishing, and “Is it really that rough?” 

“No, it’s TV.”

We had a delightful day.  At sail out we passed the volcanic cone and the statue of Tangaroa, the Māori Sea God (Perhaps a relation to Manannan Mac Lir, the Celtic Sea God who may be, but probably is not. my ancestor.)  It is a bronze sculpted by Frank Szirmay. 

With the permission of the local Māori community, Tangaroa’s likeness stands on a rock protecting the harbor by challenging all incoming ships to assure that their intentions are friendly.