Tauranga was our second port of the cruise. Guarding the entrance to the harbor was this warrior statue.
You know, the trouble with being a statue is that some bird-brain might take advantage of your dignified presence.
Our excursion here was the five-hour “Swim with the Dolphins,” starting at the Salisbury Wharf.
See something peculiar about the local trees?
I’ve no answer for this observation. There were evenly-spaced trees seen in many places in New Zealand.
This seafaring excursion was to see penguins, seals, orcas, and dolphins in the Bay of Plenty. My sweetie and favorite daughter were especially eager to experience this. Passengers would get snorkeling gear and wetsuits to enter the water, once a pod of dolphins was found. The two-decker boat was crowded.
We paused at location after location; the captain kept us updated on possible dolphin spots.
After quite a while, the captain said there was a black sea turtle at the front. I was near the back of the boat, and with all the people now standing, I barely saw glimpses of the creature between them. I pointed my camera and fired, hoping there was something caught in the shot…
This day’s post is short. Other than the turtle and some sea birds, that’s all the critters we saw.
When booking an excursion where free-roaming wild animal sightings are the main attraction, remember, it is a roll of the dice. The crew was apologetic; they had no control over the result. So, this ended up being a harbor cruise.
These offish wild dolphins didn’t seem to care how much money we spent just to be with them, something like a bad set of in-laws. :O
A cautionary word of advice: at the outset, when choosing nature excursions, if no compensation is offered when the critters are a no-show, think twice about booking.
On the way back to our ship, we passed by ads of other interesting things to see and do in Tauranga.
https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Things%20to%20Do&find_loc=tauranga%2C%20New%20Zealand
This Olde Traveloger 