Two more North Island beaches

One of the beaches we went to while we were in the Tauranga area was on a bay. The swimming was lovely, no waves, lots of people and boats to watch. Dave swam with me for a while, then got out because he was itching to paint. He found some cool orange flowers with purple leaves and stem (which we found out just today are called a canna lillies), and he sat down on a grassy hillside to paint them. After I finished swimming I walked around taking pictures. In the second photo, I thought the tree was a really cool shape.

In the previous photo, you'll see a hill with a few cars on top. After Dave finished his painting we drove up to the top of that hill. The next photo is a view from up there across the bay.

On another day, we were at another beach. One of my favorite things on the North Island is all the Norfolk pines, which originally came from Norfolk Island, one of the Pacific Islands not that far from New Zealand. We found out on this trip that the early missionaries liked Norfolk pines and often planted them near their mission stations because the new growth at the top looks like a cross. Most of the trees in the photo below are Norfolk pines. I just can't get over seeing them as tall trees. I've often grown them as house plants.