This is another story of a jumping off point from work. I was booked on a job down in Waihi (right
next to the beach) and so Maggie and I decided to use Waihi as a jumping off
point to Tauranga and Papamoa on March 13th. I enjoyed
my stay in Waihi; our hotel was only about 1 km from the beach, so I made it a
daily habit to take a run on the beach before the sun came up so that I could
see the sun rising at the end of my run.
I was usually the only one on the beach, so it made for some pretty
amazing, calm, and peaceful mornings. It’s
the type of mornings that really make you appreciate all God has given to you. During my time there, I made sure that I
checked out the local scenery and did a nice bush walk along the cliffs of
Waihi beach.
Maggie and James met me on Thursday and after I was done
with work on Friday we made a break for Tauranga/Papamoa. Maggie wasn't going to miss Waihi since it did nothing but rain from the moment she got there. During the only break in the cloud she managed to get in an hour walk around the Waihi goldmine. I'll let her thrill you with the gold facts she learned.
Gold Facts, by Maggie
It took me over an hour to walk to perimeter of the gold mine. It is ENORMOUS! They are planning a recreational lake when the resources have dried up.
Along the way they had little Q&A signs attached to the fence, and I've picked a couple of the most interesting ones to record here for your reading pleasure.
Q: How much does the mine produce?
A: Over $1 million worth of gold and silver is produced each week, 82% of revenue staying in NZ
Q: How much does each dump truck cost?
A: $1.5 million, and each tire is $11,000
Q: How much dirt does each dump truck hold?
A: About 45 cubic meters or up to 11 tonnes (13ish elephants)
Q: How much gold is in each truckload?
A: On average about 2 tablespoons of gold and 20 tablespoons of silver
Q: How long will it take to fill up the lake?
A: 6 years using a nearby river, or 25 years naturally
Back to Lance.
Tauranga is in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand, which is known for its luscious beaches. That reputation did not disappoint. As we were driving through on Friday we likened the area to be NZ’s SoCal. It was very reminiscent of beach towns on the West Coast of Cali with just a little fewer in its population. We enjoyed the scenery and the luscious palm trees everywhere, and from that point it truly felt like a vacation. James was being a little cranky on Friday night so we decided to call it an early night back at the hotel.
Gold Facts, by Maggie
It took me over an hour to walk to perimeter of the gold mine. It is ENORMOUS! They are planning a recreational lake when the resources have dried up.
Along the way they had little Q&A signs attached to the fence, and I've picked a couple of the most interesting ones to record here for your reading pleasure.
Q: How much does the mine produce?
A: Over $1 million worth of gold and silver is produced each week, 82% of revenue staying in NZ
Q: How much does each dump truck cost?
A: $1.5 million, and each tire is $11,000
Q: How much dirt does each dump truck hold?
A: About 45 cubic meters or up to 11 tonnes (13ish elephants)
Q: How much gold is in each truckload?
A: On average about 2 tablespoons of gold and 20 tablespoons of silver
Q: How long will it take to fill up the lake?
A: 6 years using a nearby river, or 25 years naturally
Back to Lance.
Tauranga is in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand, which is known for its luscious beaches. That reputation did not disappoint. As we were driving through on Friday we likened the area to be NZ’s SoCal. It was very reminiscent of beach towns on the West Coast of Cali with just a little fewer in its population. We enjoyed the scenery and the luscious palm trees everywhere, and from that point it truly felt like a vacation. James was being a little cranky on Friday night so we decided to call it an early night back at the hotel.
Saturday morning we woke up to a “cracker” of a day. That’s what the locals refer to as a
beautiful, blue sky day. In all honesty,
James woke us up and then we woke up to a beautiful day. We decided to do “The Mount” in Mt. Maunganui
early in the morning to kick off the day.
It was pretty impressive, but we were at the summit around 10:30 am. The views of the beach and the ocean with the
sun sparkling on the water were incredible.
The white sandy beach of Papamoa extends for 16 km. After that it’s broken up by Matakana Island,
which also is a white sandy beach. Then it takes a little break and there’s a couple of cliffs before Waihi beach opens up
and goes on for what seems like forever (on a morning run). It’s truly an incredible area of New Zealand
and great for folks who love the beach.
After taking in the great views at the top, we headed back
to our hotel to gear up for our day at the beach. It was fantastic. The water was great, the waves were fun and
James had a blast. The waves are known
to be excellent for surfing, so they’re pretty strong. I had a great time fighting them, while
Maggie seemed to struggle quite a bit (see video- it's hilarious).
We dug a little pool for James on the beach, lining it with a shower curtain, and filled it with water to
let the ocean water warm up in the sun.
That kid has some parents who really love him. Once the water was nice and warm, he got to
play around to his heart’s content. But
he didn’t just stop there; he loved crawling around the beach and playing with
the seashells. After a while, Maggie and
James took a nap in our beach tent and I stayed out to enjoy the waves. Every minute I was out there I was thinking
how much we would kill to have a beach like this in Colorado. The folks here still don’t get why I’m
absolutely star struck and giddy every time I see the ocean and the beach, and
I just show them a map of how big a land-lock I’m used to back in the
States. Growing up with the beach around they’re used to having it at their disposal; me, I thoroughly
appreciate every minute of it.
The next morning, we awoke again very early and I decided to
give Maggie a little bit of a break by taking James on a run with me along the
beach. We got out during sunrise
and had ourselves a special morning watching the sun appear
over the water behind the clouds.
It was so amazing to have such a calm and great morning with Cyclone Pam just hours away from New Zealand. As Maggie and I aren’t exactly experienced with hurricanes/cyclones, we decided to pack up early and head back to Auckland to buy some provisions. We weren't really sure what a ‘Super Cyclone’ entails but it didn’t sound fun so back to Auckland we headed. Turns out it had faded quite a bit by the time it reached NZ so it was just a gentle rainstorm where we were. Guess we won't be needing the flashlights and beef jerky after all.
Update by Maggie:
Lance went back to Waihi for work a couple weeks later and had quite the upgrade in accommodation. He rented a bach with his co-workers and this was their view:
Rough life. Not to mention he got a tour of the gold mines and went deep underground in one of these bad boys. Those tires are twice my height.
It was so amazing to have such a calm and great morning with Cyclone Pam just hours away from New Zealand. As Maggie and I aren’t exactly experienced with hurricanes/cyclones, we decided to pack up early and head back to Auckland to buy some provisions. We weren't really sure what a ‘Super Cyclone’ entails but it didn’t sound fun so back to Auckland we headed. Turns out it had faded quite a bit by the time it reached NZ so it was just a gentle rainstorm where we were. Guess we won't be needing the flashlights and beef jerky after all.
Update by Maggie:
Lance went back to Waihi for work a couple weeks later and had quite the upgrade in accommodation. He rented a bach with his co-workers and this was their view:
Rough life. Not to mention he got a tour of the gold mines and went deep underground in one of these bad boys. Those tires are twice my height.