Crusie Ship Packages

It has been a busy few days and we are about half way through with 28 of the 58 ships visiting Tauranga completed so far. So this is a bit of a catch up for me.

17th January 2009:
Two ships were in port this day. The Volendam and the Millenium. It was pretty busy and in no time the van was full with a family from Auzy, Colin (dad), Robin(Mum), Luke, Joel, Breanne and Keely and two friends from America Shelly and Claire. As our name says it is all about Adventure in the Bay of Plenty and in no time we had the days activities planned and we were heading over to Rotorua. First stop Agroventures. Colin, Luke and Joel decided to give the jet boats ago, Breanne and Keely raced each other on the Shweeb and Robin was in charge of the photos. Shelly and Claire chose the jet boats as well. Next Dad and the boys were getting ready for the Swoop, Breanne and Keely were off to the Free Fall (mum was in charge of the photos) and Shelly and Claire had a bit of catching up to do back in America and were surfing the net. Soon we were heading off to Raftabout Rafting Tours on the Kaituna River. It had been Shelly's idea to do some rafting and no-one needed any convincing. About a 20 minute drive from Rotorua Raftabout provides a very professional, safe and fun adventure. The family from Auzy were in one raft while the girls from America plus a few ring ins were in the other. This time I was in charge of the photos because Robin was rearing to take on the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world at 7m's. After the necessary safety and technique briefings they disappeared with their rafts over farmland to the launching ramp just down the hill. I jumped into the courtesy coach and was taken to all the best photo spots with Barry from Adventure Photography. The 7m waterfall was the winner on the day taking a few prisoners under its turbulent waters but spitting them up again before too long. Keely was too young to go down the waterfall but made up for it by riding up front shotgun style on the surfing sections of the river. Everyone was feeling a bit hungry so we returned to Rotorua for a quick feed. Now you cannot go to Rotorua without seeing some of the geothermal activity and I just happen to know of a couple of places that the big bus tours don't take people. (and its free) by now it was getting late as Shelly and Claire's boarding time was 5.30pm so we had to head back to Tauranga. I also had an evening tour with another group from Auzy wanting to go to the Mitai Village for a Maori Concert and Hangi Meal. I could wright on forever about this trip but as they say a picture says a thousand words so I have put on as many as I could. On a passing note for my Auzy friends "GO THE WARRIORS"

The Afternoon of the 17th Jan 2009:
After dropping Colin and his Family, Shelly and Claire back at the Port I was off again with another family from Australia. Their ship wasn't leaving Port until around midnight and although just coming back from Rotorua they wanted to head back to see the Mitai Village Maori Show. After picking up a few cold ones for them from the liquor store we were off. Sharon, Leroy, Paula, Mark, Brendon and Indy (after the racing cars) were from a small town in Auzy that hadn't seen much rain for quite a while so our green country side was quite refreshing. As Auzys and Kiwis do we talked about sport, politics, history and culture until we arrived at Mitai. I dropped them off for the 2hr show and headed into town for something to eat and catchup on some paper work. About 9.30 I picked them up again and returned them to the ship. A long busy day and I hope they all enjoyed it as much as I did.

18th Jan 2009
Things started off a bit slow this day and after speaking with Tim who owns The Enterprise (the boat we use for some of our tours) who told me there were TV cameras everywhere for the hydroplane etc boat races I shot over to Tauranga a put my flag up on his boat hoping to get a bit of exposure. don't know if it worked or no yet. Not long had a being there Shelly from the I- Site Mt Maunganui called me saying their were four off the boat wanting to go to Kiwi 360 and Comvita in Te Puke. Back I went and waiting for me was Lisa, Genya, Julie who were dances off the boat and their friend Catherine. AS in all our tours I took them around the Mount and told them a bit of the local history and culture of the area and showed them all the best sights on our way out to Te Puke about 1/2 hour drive away. We soon arrived at Kiwi 360 and after booking the guided tour they browsed around the souvenir shop, sampled some kiwifruit, wine, liquor etc. The manager offered me a free tour which I gladly accepted. The tour takes you around the orchard explaining in detail the kiwifruit industry and how it came about and why it became so successful in New Zealand after originally being imported from China (Chinese Gooseberry).
Once finished we piled back in the van and went to Comvita, specialists in natural health care with a bee focus. they had a look around for a while and before long it was time to head back but not before taking the back we went to the top of Papamoa Hills to show them the amazing panoramic views of The Bay of Plenty.

19th Jan 2009
Today I had Steve and Patricia from America and Stu and Joy from Australia. They had been to the I-Site and decided to go white water rafting. So it was back to Raftabout. We went via Pyes Pa and as being the adventurous type people I wanted to show them a few of the attractions. Unfortunately due to some road works we got a bit delayed and after grabbing something to eat we were off to Raftabout headquarters. On arrival we were greeted as usual by the friendly staff and because there was room on the raft Blair offered me a free ride which I happily accepted. Again after the prelims of safety and technique we were off down the river. There was one other raft, named Team China and from the start you could tell there was going to be some mischief on the water. Alfie our fantastic guide had us maneuvering the raft pretty well and except for a few words to our American friends to paddle harder we had it mastered. To be fair though having an Auzy and a Kiwi on the same boat probably isn't the best thing. Stu was probably trying to paddle harder than me and I know I was paddling hard to make sure Stu wasn't getting the upper hand. I guess the most memorable moment was looking back after going down the 7m water fall and our guide Alfie was nowhere to be seen. I think the photo tells the story. Again it is one of those activities that is hard to put down in words and I am made about water sports/activities so I just had an amazing time. Steve and Patricia put on par with skydiving. Again the pictures tell the story. Afterwards we look at the photos taken by Barry and it was decided to show them a bit of geothermal activity back in Rotorua. Again we are able to take them to the places where the crowds don't go so they get to get up close and spend as much time as they want. But again the day is only so long and we had to head back to Tauranga after stopping off at a kiwifruit orchard for Steve. We were even able to make this an adventure by jumping a gate to a private farm to get a photo. No harm was done and we were soon back at the port.