NewZeaLinz: Mount Sweet Mount

So I haven't really mentioned much about my new neighborhood. Here's the update!

I'm living in a town called Mount Maunganui, named after this little hill pictured below. Called "Mauao" in Maori, it's actually a dormant volcano that has great cultural significance. Its name means "caught by the morning sun". The story of how it got its name goes like this: There were 3 mountains living in the Hautere forest, a nameless moutain, Otanewainuku, and the female Puwhenua. The nameless mountain was in love with Puwhenua, however her heart already belonged to Otanewainuku. The nameless mountain was heartbroken and hopeless and wanted to drown himself in the nearby ocean. He asked the patupaiarehe (the people with magical powers) to send him a rope and haul him out to the ocean. They did as he asked. But then daybreak started to hit. The patupaiarehe are people of the night, so they aborted their mission just as the nameless mountain was about to reach the ocean. So the nameless mountain was unsuccessful in his drowning attempt, but now lies right at the ocean's edge, and appropriately named "Mauao", "caught by the morning sun".

Ok enough history!

So just where in NZ is Mount Maunganui?

Right there. :)

So, here is the Mount, and the beach, and this is also the street I live on!

Here's a view from halfway up the Mount. There's a GREAT walking/running track around it, and also up to the summit. Apparently a million people use these tracks each year!

The town of Mount Maunganui is actually a little peninsula town, so on the non-beach side of the peninsula is Pilot Bay. Across the bay is Tauranga, the sixth largest city in NZ with a population of about 120,000.

Walks up and around the Mount are quite scenic for many reasons in addition to the beach and the bay! There's also several sheep grazing up there. Lambing season just passed, so the baby lambs were adorable.

Without further ado, here is my new home! Right at the base of the Mount. The beach is across the street. YEAH!

I live in the ground floor unit. Yes, right next to the pool :)

Dislcaimer: In no means am I posting this to brag. I am just very excited about living here. My first job had a nice house in a not-so-exciting farm town. My second job was a small, unwarm 1 bedroom studio type shed in a slightly bigger but not-much-more exciting town. So, after a year of subpar living conditions/locations for a single young female like me, I think it's about time I deserve to live in a super nice place in a super nice location!!!

My deck..