After another excellent breakfast at our B&B in Bethlehem, Sue and I went for a walk around the neighbourhood. We marched all the way down from our mountain-top home, followed the biking and hiking paths that criss-cross the land below, and climbed back up the hill and home again. A short walk, but we were ‘saving’ ourselves for the tougher walk we were planning for this afternoon. We were waiting to hear from our car rental guy who was supposed to come before 1pm to swap our van for the Toyota Yaris we’d rented. It was 12:55 and we were just finishing our lunch when ‘Johnny’ showed up at the door. We moved all our stuff (golf clubs, suitcases, etc) from the van into the car. 

We’d just swapped vehicles when Brian sent a text; they were on their way to Mount Maunganui. We asked them to wait for us — the trip there would take us 20 minutes. We circled around the strip, looking for a parking spot. Man, the beach here is BUSY! Once we were parked we found Brian, Val, and Scott and started up the mountain trail. 

Mount Maunganui is 230 meters above sea level. The climb up is relatively easy. But not for everyone. Sue, Val, and Scott went on ahead of us. Brian and I walked at our own pace, stopping for frequent breaks. The temperature and conditions were great — although perhaps a bit warm. We were a little more than halfway up when we met Scott and the girls coming down. We persevered. And the view from the top was worth it. And then we turned around and tramped back down. We met the others at a small cafe for a cool refreshing drink. (Well, as usual, Scott had a FULL MEAL with his drink.) 

While Brian and I finished our drinks the other set out to find a grocery store. They would buy grocery wine and bring it along to the restaurant where we’d made 6pm reservations. Brian was busy booking an AirBnB in Rotorua for tomorrow night. When he’d finished that we found my car and drove it down the strip to the other end, where our restaurant was (OBR — which stand for ‘On Beach Road’).

We had a lovely supper and did a bit of planning for the next few days. Then we said goodbye and Sue and I drove back to our place. Back at our B&B our hosts invited us to join them (upstairs) for a glass of wine. We visited with Tony and Marigold until 10:30. Then downstairs for a bit of TV and journalling — until it was time to go to bed.