Any Port In A Storm

Tuesday

Sherry has had a welcome respite in the mornings this week. Ro and Barnaby are in swimming lessons at Baywave, and with Sherry hobbled, Craig has been taking the boys so Sherry can keep her leg elevated and take it easy. This afternoon, however, cabin fever got the best of her.

Paulette works at the Port of Tauranga, and suggested to Craig that he take Barnaby on a tour, so Craig invited Sherry and Ro to come along. Every year the port opens its doors to the public for a two week period. The guided tour is a unique opportunity to get an insider's view of New Zealand's largest port. Sherry thought the boys would be bowled over by all the huge, hulking dock loaders and cranes, but it seemed that she and Craig enjoyed the tour more than the kids! Ro and Barnaby were more interested in playing, and while Barnaby made a game of wearing his hat over his eyes and putting sunglasses on top of his hat, Ro put Sherry's knee brace on, claiming he was a Transformer.

The Mt Maunganui wharves are loaded with lumber and bulk liquid tanks

More than meets the eye

The Tauranga wharves are crammed with containers

Sherry learned that the bustling hub brings in NZ$45 million dollars annually, not to mention the revenue from the cruise ships that dock here seemingly every other day throughout the summer.

http://www.port-tauranga.co.nz/

The height of stacked containers creates controversy, as they block nearby residents' views of Mauao

We watched the boys this evening so Craig and Paulette could go see Avatar. Like us, they had tried to see it before but it was sold-out. Ro and Barnaby played well together for most of the evening, but when they finally started squabbling over the only operational Omnitrix, we knew it was time to put them to bed.

Barnaby & Ro in a peaceful moment