Last formal evening plus Tauranga

We came back from our last formal night and found a darling elephant towel figure on our bed...so cute.  And speaking of our dining...we loved our waiter, his assistant and our wine gal.  They were all so lovely, so much fun and so expert at their jobs.

 This lovely young lady seated us each evening and made sure we got "our" table and "our" crew.

Pulling into port

 Mount Maunganui

We had previously decided not to do any of the ship tours offered as we were coming back to the area with Clare later in the week.  Instead, we googled "things to do in Tauranga" and found a winery that got rave reviews.  So, off we went.  As we were leaving the ship, a lovely woman from the town was giving out maps and brochures so we asked her the best way to get to Mills Reef Winery.  After congratulating us on our choice of places to visit, she told us to take the no. 6 bus to town and then transfer to the no. 1 or 2. 

Off we went to the bus corner and boy! what a crowd.  The buses were filling fast, fast and faster and no sight of a no. 6.  So, we did the next best thing and took a cab.  $47.00 later and twenty minutes, we arrived at the winery.  And it was beautiful.

 The owner's house...

 Are you seeing this place, Clare? Again...the owner's house!

 We were almost the only ones there and our tasting room gal was both knowledgeable and generous.  We fell in love with several of the Mills Reef wines.  Since we had the day to kill, a wonderful vista all to ourselves and the entire staff at our beck and call, we ordered a bottle of wine (a nicer one that we thought we had ordered but who cares...we only go around once, right?) and eventually we ordered lunch.

 The menu is for Pam Bennett

 Kiwi vines and fruit.

When we had finished our lunch and sipped our wine, we roamed down the road, discovered a covered bus stop and waiting with a sweet local.  She promised to put us off where we needed to be and for $6.00 total, we were carried back to the ship with only one transfer and a ten minute wait in town.  On our bus was the lady who helped us on the ship from town and she introduced us to her husband, the bus driver.

We didn't return to the ship immediately but roamed through the linear park next to the beach.  And then back to the ship for some refreshments.  This time the menu is for our favorite bar keep, Susie.