Powerboat Racing

It has been a big weekend for offshore powerboat racing. The race was held in Tauranga Harbour and kicked off about lunchtime. I managed to sneak out of the cafe for a few minutes to watch a bit of it. You just cannot believe the speeds these guys were going, it honestly looked like they were flying just above the water, evidently some of the boats can reach 200kph. There were helicopters all over the sky presumably filming the event, one of the helicopters was following a particular boat about 20ft above it, as you can just about see in the photos (sorry about the quality). There were a lot of people watching, the best views were to be had on the Mount and they may have seen one of the smaller boats flip when it hit wake, the crew were OK though and later rejoined the race. It was won by Richard Shores and Wayne Carson in a 32Ft, 1300hp catamaran.

Beach Soccer

The National championship finals of beach soccer were held on the Mount Main beach this weekend. It is 5 a side and is really hard work on the soft sand. I managed to get to watch part of a game and it was all action, exciting stuff. We had half of the Hawkes Bay team in for pizza on Thursday night just before the competition started, they were really excited and confident. They made it to the final but were beaten by the local side 11-7, you should have seen their faces when they were back in the cafe on Sunday night, not happy at all.

It was St Patricks day here on Saturday just as it was everywhere, a local pub tried to make something of it but I think the number of people of Irish descent are few and far between judging by the numbers who gathered for a mower race.

It is the time of year here for dozy wasps and annoying flys. I can tolerate flys most of the time but when they reach a certain number they become too much, for me that number is 5. When I have finished swatting said 5 flys another 5 appear, how do they know? why is it always 5?. Talking of bugs, the clocks went back this weekend which means it is dark about 7pm, which means brown moths with a 4 inch wingspan start swooping into the cafe, fortunately they swoop straight into the bug zapper.

Weddings and Earthquakes

This weekend we had lovely weather, hot and sunny. This would have been good news for the couple getting married on the Mount main beach. It is the first time I have seen an actual wedding going on, there are often photographs being taken though. About 20 people were sat on chairs with a hanging fishing net as a backdrop, all dressed in smart suits, 20 feet either side, and bikinis were the order of the day. It looked quite odd really. (sorry no photos, the camera was still plugged into the computer).
I was sitting on Pilot Bay on Sunday afternoon watching the goings on, nice weather again. When I got back to the cafe, it was announced that there had been an earthquake 3. something or other on the Richter scale. I have to say I didn't notice it. There are often earthquakes here, but they are all pretty much the same as the one on Sunday. There was also a big Triathlon event being staged, the swimming is done in pilot bay (if you look at the photo right at the bottom of the page, that is pilot bay). Talking of triathlons, Hamish Carter the Olympic gold medalist was at Georgia's school this week. He was making a special presentation to a girl who had fallen off her bike in a kids Triathlon. That's it for now, talk to you later.

CRUISE SHIPS

It is coming to the end of Cruise Ship season. It has been a good year for visits, about 28 I think. The largest of the visitors is the Sapphire Princess, she is one big ship. She has about 2,000 passengers and has been here on a fairly regular basis. These visitors should in theory provide a big boost to the local economy but most of the passengers get whisked off by the busload to Rotorua to look at the Thermal Parks, which have natural wonders like Mud Pools and Geysers. There really only seem to be a handful of visitors who actually stay and wander round Mount Maunganui. A little market sets up with jewellery and gifts and they do a bit of business but it is not huge. The local cafes may sell a few more coffees but mot a lot happens really. It is when the ship leaves that things liven up . The locals come down of an evening to watch the ship leave. It is quite a spectacle really. The shipping channel out of the harbour is only a couple of hundred yards off the beach, it feels like you can almost shake hands with the passengers as they leave. Our cafe benefits greatly when a ship leaves, people watch it go and then come in for pizza. If you stand outside the cafe and look down the street you can see the ship go and it is an impressive sight, just have a look at the photos.

Surf Event

It has been a very busy weekend at the cafe. There has been a big junior surf lifesaving event being staged at the Mount main beach. Over 700 competitors from 40 clubs from all over New Zealand have been competing against each other. The weather has been hot and sunny for the event, although today (Sunday) the clouds have moved in and it looks like we are in for a few showers today.