New Plymouth

This week I found myself in New Plymouth again. I stayed at my regular hotel and decided to enjoy the spring weather and walk to dinner. Now on this map below you may be able to see Timanadra street (off of Hwy 3) just south of the cementaryand a small blue creek to the right of it. On my map there was a walking path market on the west side of the stream that when all the way to the ocean.

Well the path from the hotel was clearly a path, with stairs and bridge, although it appears to have not been used recently given the heavy layer of leaves covering most of it.

It lead to the loveliest section of bush kissed water.

But the path became hard to follow from that point. I ended up finding a stye that lead to some pathways through thick grass. I figured it must be the trail, although quickly I realized that the paths all went random directions.
So I walked to the top of the hill where I found a very clear path. I climbed the fence and started walking along it. It turned into an uphill concrete slab covered in cow pies. Soon I realized that it opened into a field of cows. I went over the fence into a field of grass to the left of the cows.
And then I was spotted. All of them ran towards me and the brown one with horns was particularly keen to get to know me. I could clearly see that there was a step stye at the end of the field, but to get there I had to go through the cows. I couldn't retreat as there was nothing between me and the cows for a good 1/4 mile. Now that I was spotted, I knew they'd follow me.

I stayed there for a good 15 minutes sorting out what to do, when the cows start to run away from me. Suddenly a jogger appeared an ran right through the field. I followed him, but the cows turns straight at me and ran with me.

I did survive though and climbed over the stye to find myself in a cemetary.


It was rememberance day and there were lots and lots of flowers... I wandered through reading the grave stones.Eventually I found my way back down to the river which had a very clear path. I followed it under roads, past a mini waterfall, and then came upon this swing.
It arced back and forth over the stream which was a good 10 feet below the river bank.

Then the path meet the sea and the Coastal Walkway. New Plymouth has won many awards for this infrastructure and heaps of people were out. Here is a shot of the water fountain.


Near town, the path is graced with a Wind Wand. That is where I left the sea walk and headed in to find some dinner.



I treated myself to a nice meal at a fancy restaurant complete with dessert... although the walk was itself felt so adventureous and sweet it could be argued that it was a dessert in and of itself

Taranaki

I recently visited the Taranki region. This is an incredible place. There is a large volcano surrounded by flat plains. The plains currently are mostly agriculture (think Tillamook dairy area), but it is amazing to wonder what it was like when it was still bush. This plain has many undulations, but overall is fairly flat elevation wise. It then leads straight to the sea. I remember as a child my parents trying to explain why they love Oregon to people back east. They said things like “where else can you go to the beach on the morning and then drive to the mountain for snow in the evening.” Well you could do that in half the time here!

Here are some shots I took from the plane as we flew in. They let us move seats in flight, and I did several times to get better window views.





That first night in town I went down to own of the beaches near the city centre (New Plymouth) to watch the sunset. It was such a lovely beach. Tons of surfers and people walking, and all as close to town as the waterfront is in Portland





 
I was particularly intrigued by this man who hauled his kayak down to the surf just at sunset. He clearly didn't have much time to be on the water after work, but he went for it anyway, enjoying the few minutes he had out there.
 
Here is another beach, about a 10 minute drive south of the city, and the view of the mountain as it first peaked out from behind the clouds. We tried to sit and watch the surfers, but I soon had sandfly bites all across my waist and backside. They are very different to mosquito bites and swell to the size of a quarter. I look like someone took a belt to me!





 
On another day, we went to a beach further south still. This time we walked rather than become a buffet for the sandflies. These fellows took it to another level. They didn't even bother go down to the surf to swim, they just laid in the river!


 
One of the more subtle treasures there was this little river that ran behind my hotel. I walked down there and couldn't believe that this bush clad stream was running through the town to the ocean!




We also drove down to Dawson Falls, which were very striking. There is a legend that someone was being chased and they hid from their enemies behind the water. One thing I miss here is the waterfalls of the Tillmook Forest.. so this was a welcome sight.




On out last day up there, we drove north to check out the White Cliffs area. The mountain was out all day, so I took a few photos of that. I also really enjoyed the bit of beach exposed at the White Cliffs area. We were there a bit too early for low tide, an hour later and we could have walked the beach portion of the walk. Instead we did a bit of the walk that was on top of the cliffs through farm land.





 
Trav also seemed to enjoy himself at the beach....
 
On the way back to the airport, I realize that the signs I had been seeing had nothing to do with fire...

I hope these aren't related to the “world class” methane plant that was in the area. They even had a visitor centre... though I can't imagine it being quite the kid mecca that the Tillamook cheese factory is back home.

And finally, here are some shots from the plane as we left