📍North Island New Zealand 17-Day Road Trip

Mount Maunganui⛰️ 📍 For parking: There’s a spot called Pilot Quay Parking at the foot of the mountain, but it’s *super* small—easy to fill up! Pro tip: Stay at a beachfront hotel near the mountain. You can walk straight from your hotel to the trailhead, which is right by the sea 🌊 This mountain’s trails are my favorite so far—there’s a loop trail and several summit trails ! - 🌊 Base Track (Circumferential Trail)**: 3.4 km / 45 mins. The whole path is *super* flat—lots of seniors walk here for leisure! As you loop around the mountain, you’ll have rocks, beaches, and turquoise waves on your right, with the mountain on your left. Every step feels like a postcard (see Figure 3)! - ⛰️ Summit Trails (Waikorire Track & Oruahine Track)**: 40 mins. These are slightly more challenging—signs at the entrance list each trail’s difficulty and whether there are stairs. The hardest one might make you huff a little, but the mountain isn’t tall, so you’ll reach the top quickly. Stopping to catch your breath here and there makes it totally manageable! And the view from the peak? *100% worth it*—you can overlook the entire coastal city, with the sea stretching out below 🌟 【Patrick’s Pies】🥧 Lunched at this popular pie shop and tried their award-winning roast duck flavor! I went with *huge* expectations… but honestly, it was just “meh”—not mind-blowing. Maybe it’s a personal taste thing? I imagined something like Beijing roast duck, but this had flaky pastry on the outside, with duck meat mixed with creamy mushrooms (and other stuff) inside. Worth a try if you’re curious, but don’t set your hopes too high! 【Tauranga City Center】🌆 Spent the afternoon wandering Maunganui Road—the busiest, most vibrant street in the area! It’s lined with restaurants, shops, and a few souvenir stores—great for casual browsing. Later, I walked to Salisbury Wharf on the other side: lots of people sunbathing, and boats bobbing gently in the water. The vibe was so chill, I could’ve stayed there all afternoon 😌 #NewZealand #CoastalHiking #Tauranga #Beach #TravelGuide #MountMaunganui #Hiking #MountainClimbing #Coastline #EastCoast