Taranaki and the Central Plateau

Hi

This is the blow by blow account of our recent land peregrination to see how the other half lives. Actually it's more than half; only a very small minority of lunatics actually live on boats - oh well.

We left Whangarei in the trusty Hyundai on Saturday the 23rd. of October and had an uneventful trip to Magan and Heather's farm at Tuakau on the Port Waikato road. We had to get our land fix so Gina bathed the eyes of the albino donkey and put sunblock on her ears. As well as that she washed the tails of some of the miniature horses and clipped daggs which had accumulated. Jim in the meantime got excited about weeds as he is wont to do and weeded gardens of oxaylis and thistles. Magan and Heather left for home and their Montessori School on Sunday afternoon and left the menagerie in our tender care! We do thank Heather and Magan for giving us the opportunity to get the rural fix out of our systems!!

Then on Monday morning we set out on our southern odyssey. It was a beautiful morning and we got completely carried away with the rural scenes we were passing through - so much so that we finished up in the wilds of Glen Murray and Rotowaro before rejoining civilisation in the form of SH1 at Huntly. We bypassed Hamilton (who would want to go there?!!) on SH39 and had lunch at Otorohanga at the Thirsty Weta Cafe. We then continued south through Te Kuiti and instead of taking the familiar road to National Park, we carried on towards New Plymouth. A long drive but very picturesque through the Awakino Gorge and out to the west coast. We walked on the black sand at Awakino Beach and carried on south. Stopped at a boutique brewery north of Bell Block and sampled the local ale which was pronounced very good indeed. It was getting late in the afternoon by now so we headed into New Plymouth in the rush hour. First stop was the Information Centre where we established that the Cottage Mews Motel and Backpackers was the ticket. Indeed it was and we spent 2 nights and a day there.

The following day we decided to walk as much as possible to see the city and have to say we were very impressed with the cleanliness and general air of prosperity. We walked along a waterfront walkway which stretches some 10 kms north and south along the wild Tasman Sea waterfront - although it was anything but wild this day. We entered the walkway at a point roughly along half its length and headed south to Port Taranaki where 2 ships were berthed with another 2 anchored off and waiting. Certainly lots of activity. And of course there's the offshore oil and gas extraction and exploration. We had lunch at a cafe near the Port but couldn't see much evidence of pleasure boating although inside the breakwaters of the Port there was a small mooring area so definitely a place where one could enter for a time. However, it's unlikely that we'll be down that way in Tiare. We walked back into town and rested up for a while after our 7-8 km walk!! Had dinner that night at an Italian Restaurant which was very good but expensive with small servings. This was an aspect we noticed time and again during our travels and certainly adds weight to the feeling that NZ is a very expensive country to live in. It will be interesting to see how Malaysia compares when we visit in a week's time - we have a feeling that it will be much better value.

The next morning (Wed.) we set off again for Wanganui. We drove along the coast through lush Taranaki dairy country and soon spotted a very insignificant sign indicating Cape Egmont. Being nautical at heart, we headed down a narrow road and soon came to the lighthouse at the westernmost extremity of Godszone. As a cape it seemed quite unimpressive as the country is all flat dairy farms with a fringe of boulder strewn coast. Certainly nothing like the majestic grandeur of Cape Brett. But we saw it and took a photo of the lighthouse.

Soon after that we came to the surfing capital of Opunake (all black sand beaches) and then turned inland towards Stratford on the way to Dawson Falls on the slopes of Mt. Egmont. More lush farmland and then thick bush giving way to more alpine bush as we gained altitude. We walked briefly through the bush at the Falls and it really seemed very Hobbit - like country. We almost expected to meet Frodo at every turn but he must have been feeling shy that day!

We descended the mountain slopes again and headed towards Stratford where we had lunch. Then south to Hawera (much bigger than Stratford) where we replenished the Hyundai's meagre thirst. Certainly different from driving a V8 Mercedes in Jim's previous life - in more ways than one!! Along the coast again to Wanganui (note no "H"!) where as usual our first port of call was the information centre. We looked at the old Grand Hotel for nostalgia's sake as Jim remembered staying there with his parents when still at school but unfortunately, as is so often the case, it had lost much of its original grandeur so we looked around for something different and found it in the form of  Tamara Lodge - a lovely old house originally built in 1904 and commanding an excellent view of the river. We had a large room upstairs and the old place was still largely original. Apparently it had been a nursing home for 30 years of its life. Backpackers these days are great places to stay and relatively inexpensive. The following day paid a visit to Wanganui Collegiate where Jim's father went back in 1928. We then left Wanganui and  headed north "up the Para Para"! Lovely scenic drive and next stop Raetihi. That's all for this installment - it's 1 in the morning and time for some sleep! Keep tuned in to this space.

Cheers,

J & J