Our first port of call was at the edge of Lake Matahina for a jet boat tour across it and along the river that feeds it. K and I had enjoyed an excellent ride on the South Island, but our friends had yet to feel the power of the jet.
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| Follow me! |
As we arrived, a band of rain darkened the skies of what was otherwise a fine morning. We sat out the shower, setting off after it had passed. Bill, a manufacturer and exporter of jet boats, as well as former world-champion racer, took us out rumbling onto the lake - the only vehicle on the entire body of water. Shortly, we had exited the wide lake and entered the narrower river, whose course curved excitingly and was peppered with natural obstacles, such as rocks over which the shallow water eddied, and fallen trees under which we just squeezed the boat's bulk. We skimmed our way expertly up river to the hydroelectric power station and back again, winding our way through the beautiful Bay of Plenty scenery.
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| Jetman |
Moving on to Whakatane proper, we strained to see White Island - a volcanic protuberance several miles off the north coast of New Zealand. Unable to discern the shape of the island, we repaired to Poppy's Café for a bite, where I enjoyed a meltingly good zucchini loaf and shared a banoffee tart with K.
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| Zucchini loaf |
As well as sharing the pleasure of a jet boat tour with our friends, we also introduced them to one of our favourite places - The Mount in Tauranga. We parked up at Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park at the foot of the eponymous mount.
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| Magnificent mount view |
It was nice to be back in this area of NZ that we had enjoyed so much when visiting four weeks ago. We planned to revisit the eclectic Pizza Library, but discovered a hidden bonus that it was attached to an equally eclectic bar that serves an excellent range of craft beer from the likes of Moa, Tuatara, Garage Project, and the local microbrewery Fitzpatrick. The pizzas were, as before, delicious and varied.
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| A man plays piano for Elvis and a deer dressed as a vicar |
From the library we got a steer to nearby Major Tom's, which had recently paid host to a Garage Project tap takeover. With many of the superb range from this Wellington brewery still available, we settled in for a quick drink and enjoyed the tunes being played apparently just for us from a diminutive DJ booth at the corner of the bar.
On the way home, we stopped by Mount Brewing Co., which we had previously enjoyed a great deal, but their offering suffered a little in comparison to the beers par excellence served up in the previous establishments. Still, the India Dark Ale gave a good chocolatey bitterness to round off the evening.
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