Tauranga, New Zealand

Hello Everyone!

We had another beautiful day as we docked in Tauranga, New Zealand on Friday, 30 Jan 2026. We went from the big city (Auckland) to a smaller and less developed area, but it was gorgeous. The area around Tauranga is the primary kiwi fruit growing area in New Zealand - about 80% of the country's exported kiwi fruit comes from here. More on that in a bit.

Bay of Plenty

Tauranga is located on the Bay of Plenty, about 120 (straight line) miles SE of Auckland. It was named by Captain James Cook when he "discovered" it in 1769 on one of his Pacific expeditions. The large areas of cultivated land and the friendliness of Māori inspired the name he gave the region. Cook is credited with being the first to circumnavigate and map New Zealand.

Port of Tauranga

The port was much like any other, nothing too special, but well-equipped to handle our ship

Port Panorama from My Veranda

Port of Tauranga

Morning Sky at the Port

One Big Poop Scoop

We had a very important service performed this morning - draining the blackwater tank! 

Sewage Tanker

What a Load of Crap

Harbor Scenes

I liked this view of our ship tied up at the dock. The angle accentuates its sleekness.

Viking Sky Docked in Tauranga, New Zealand

As I walked from the ship, I saw this massive tugboat moored nearby. This thing looked immensely huge, powerful, and modern. 

Modern Tugboat

Morning Sightseeing - Kiwi (Fruits) Galore!

We boarded a bus and got on the road for our sightseeing excursion. We took a scenic route, and at one point were on a road paralleling the beach. We passed some very nice beachfront properties - here are pictures of a few of them. Our driver said that these sell for several million dollars, some of them tens of millions. Even at the current exchange rate of about 0.6 USD to 1 NZD, that's some serious coin.

Beachfront Home

Beachfront Home

Beachfront Condos

The drive out to the kiwi farming area near Te Puke (tay-POOK-ay) was very scenic. There were lots of small dairy farms as well as fields of sweet corn and maize. It's not clear in this picture, but you can see remnants of terracing in the hillsides that was done long ago by the Māori.

Scenery Outside the City

Kiwi Vines

Here's what kiwi fruit vines look like. I didn't know until today that they grow on vines, not trees. Silly me... 

Kiwi Fruit Vines

Golden Kiwi Fruit on the Vine

Kiwi fruit (originally known as the Chinese Gooseberry) was introduced to New Zealand in the early 1900s by a visiting school headmistress from China. It's now the country's highest earning horticultural product. You can read more about it here. Some 80% of New Zealand's kiwi fruit is raised on about 2,800 orchards here in the Te Puke surrounds. The vast majority are family owned.

I learned that there are three main varieties of kiwi fruit grown here - green, gold, and red. In the US we're most familiar with the green variety. Gold is harder to find, but is sometimes available in US specialty markets. It is noticeably sweeter than the green kiwi. I tasted some during the excursion and found it to be similar in taste and texture to a perfectly ripe pear. Red kiwi fruit accounts for less than 2% of annual production here, but is growing as the markets expand. Currently, almost all of the red kiwi fruit is sent to China where it is popular because red is a lucky color there.

Kiwi fruit (especially the golden variety) are easily bruised. It's common to see these rows of tall pines interspersed with the vines. They act as windbreaks to reduce the movement of the vines caused by the wind. The fruit has to be picked by hand because no mechanical picker exists yet that doesn't damage the fruit. During harvest season (fall, or March-May here) some 30,000 itinerant workers come in to the region to pick fruit. 

Windbreaks Surrounding Kiwi Vines

The fruit is graded and sorted automatically by size, symmetry, and sweetness. All of that is done by machines using digital optical and laser scanning. Interestingly, the kiwi is shipped to different regions depending on its sweetness. The least sweet are sent to Europe, primarily Germany because that is preferred there. The most sweet go to China, with the US getting the semi-sweet ones.

After we saw the fields, we went to the Paengaroa Community Hall nearby and were treated to tea, biscuits (cookies) and fresh kiwi fruit. A local family (Mom, an aunt, and four of their children) did some traditional Māori songs and dances for us. The little girl in the front row was precious - very animated, but also continuously looking to Mom and Auntie for cues. The boys were very enthusiastic and performed a traditional "haka" for us. The haka is an exhibition of strength and power used by the Māori to intimidate opponents in battle. This video shows a fierce haka performed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team before one of their matches. 

I thought I got a video of these boys doing the haka, but I fat fingered my iPhone and missed it. It was adorable to see these youngsters trying to look fierce and intimidating!

There was a gift shop set up in the community center where they had all sorts of souvenirs, local honey, jams, etc. for sale. But this one (actually chocolate covered raisins) caught my eye. Yeah, I guess I'm a sixth-grader at heart. 😉

When we got back to the town I went for a walk to look around and shop a bit. I didn't buy anything, but if this 60s-era Ford Falcon had had a for sale sign in the window, I might have! It was in perfect condition. Interestingly, there was a large basket of laundry in the back seat, indicating to me that the car is used regularly for errands as a daily driver. 

I found this interesting too. This "dog parking station" was outside a grocery store. Note the hooks at the bottom to which you could attach a leash. They even provided a bowl of water. Cute.

After returning to the ship and getting cleaned up, I went to dinner with another solo traveler. As usual, it was marvelous. I had seafood gumbo and my companion had monkfish. Both were superb. But dessert was the highlight! Here are pictures of our apple strudel and cannoli. Yum.

Apple Strudel

Chocolate Cannoli

Tonight we head to Napier, New Zealand where I'll have a wine tasting and a tour through the art deco downtown area. I'm looking forward to it!

Cheers,
Jim