December 15, 2017 - Sunrise over Tauranga

4:00 am. The alarm goes off. It's pitch black. Hundreds of stars twinkle in the sky. - Good morning from Mount Maunganui.

Our campground is located right next to Mount Maunganui, which is also the name of a district in Tauranga. The summit is 231m above sea level and the nearly 1.4km long hiking trail to the top can be completed within an hour.
The sunrise was announced for 5:48 am. When the alarm rang for us, the motivation from the previous evening initially pursued us. But after a brief discussion and consideration of the options, we decided - as difficult as it was for us at first - to get up. Greeted by shining stars, we put on long hiking clothes because of the (still) cool outside temperatures. We prepared a breakfast 'to go' before starting around 4:50 am. Armed with a bag and headlamp, the hiking trail first led us through a small flock of sheep. Both parties startled each other - no one was injured. After passing them, the climb up the mountain went relatively quickly thanks to stairs. We had to realize that besides us, other backpackers and tourists also came up with the idea of watching the sunrise from the mountain. But many locals were already out and about in the early morning hours. They used the trail to the mountain as their jogging route. So we were almost never alone.
With each further step and meter of altitude we covered, it became warmer. The long clothing was a bit too much.
After three-quarters of an hour, we arrived at the summit. The city at our feet with all its shining streetlights was already a small reward for getting up so early. Since the sun was still taking its time, we waited on a bench at the top. When the time came, we found a suitable spot and found it on a rocky ledge. The camera ready and the phone in video mode, the sun rose beautifully behind the sea. Shortly afterwards, we could already feel its wonderfully warm sun rays on our faces. With our gaze always on the sun, we enjoyed the sunrise to the fullest. When it was fully visible and felt like 100 pictures were taken, we unpacked our breakfast. - Rarely had such a beautiful view while having breakfast. :)
Before we headed back to the campground, we walked around the summit once more. After looking in every direction, we went back down. It was busy on the hiking trails - in addition to many other 'sunrise admirers', there were more and more recreational athletes who completed their morning routine. We arrived at our car around 07:15 am and lay down for a few more hours. Tobi quickly found his way to dreamland as usual, but I stayed awake for another three-quarters of an hour. But eventually I also managed to fall asleep, and we got some more energy for the rest of the day.

10:00 am. Good morning, part two. When we were somewhat awake, we walked to the shopping mile of Mount Maunganui.
A few days earlier, one of the nose pads of Tobi's glasses fell off. So we looked for a suitable optician and found one. The extremely friendly optician repaired Tobi's glasses and after a short small talk, it turned out that the native Capetonian has relatives in Hamburg. He even impressed us with some knowledge of German. :) We can only say it again: the people in New Zealand that we have met so far are all super friendly and open-minded. The short conversations with strangers are very intense and interesting. Within the short periods of time, you gain a small insight into the life of the other person.
We walked up and down the mile before heading to the beach. On a peninsula, we had our lunch break with a delicious apple slice. ;)
For lunch today, it was supposed to be fish & chips. We followed a recommendation and found that especially locals buy their fish & chips here. The shop was packed and the 20-minute wait was worth it - the incredibly generous portion was damn delicious. We could have rolled, we were so full.
The way back to the campground led past a large freight port and we saw that a container ship would soon depart. So - put on our backpacks - we walked around Mount Maunganui once again. The 1.5-hour loop track around the mountain always runs along the sea, and halfway through, we spotted the ship. Fully loaded, it set off for Asia.
To end the day, we went to the 'Hot Water Salt Pools' - a swimming pool that offers warm saltwater pools. From here, we enjoyed the view of Mount Mauao (as it is called by the Maoris) and relaxed in a wonderfully warm pool as the day came to a close.