Saturday 16th
After a long time of not flying (and with Bhavni at work) I had a day to go to the flying club. It was quite a warm day and I had a couple of pleasant flights. I left a bit early to go home and make some food before dropping Bhavni to work.
Sunday 17th
A wet day today. The rain kept coming and going all morning. Bhavni and I spent the morning just catching up on household stuff, before she went to sleep. Sometime in the afternoon there seemed to be a big gust of wind – slightly stronger than normal. I thought nothing of it and Bhavni kept sleeping. Apparently it was a 3.8 earthquake – shock horror. I only found out as Bhavni texted me early the next day during her night shift – having been amused by the discussion of it.
Tuesday 19th
We were feeling lazy and did something we had not done for a while – ordered pizza from Dominos.
Thursday 21st
After work we quickly got ready and headed out to Waimaku (just a bit past Kumeu). Silvia had arranged with Bhavni to go to a cheese making class in the evening – starting around 7pm. We got there just a little ahead of time and Silvia also just pulled in – James was already there. It was a small class and they showed us how to make a couple of cheeses – ricotta, mascarpone and mozzarella. The most interesting was mozzarella and we all had a go at stretching and melting the cheese. After the class was finished we tried the cheeses we had made with some crackers and homemade cider, before going home with our new cheese making kit.
Friday 22nd
A quiet night in – we rented a film from the video shop and had a takeaway Thai.
Saturday 23rd
With Bhavni at work I went flying.
Tuesday 26th
After getting home from work we went to Cornwall park for a walk watching the sun get low.
Friday 29th
It was the start of our long weekend – Road Trip. We left very close the the time we had said – just past 8am and headed straight down south on the SH1. We were on quite good time as there was not much traffic on the roads as yet and luckily we did not need to fuel up as the services just before Drury already had a queue.
Carrying on on the SH1 we got to Huntly, where we stopped near the bridge and Bhavni took some photos, before taking one of the roads towards Raglan. We initially drove through the town and parked near the waterfront just at the harbour inlet. We had a nice walk on the beach, going from the calmer waters of the inlet to the sounds of waves crashing on the main beach, There were quite a few people about – some fishing, some walking and some even trying to make their horses walk in the surf.
After our walk we went into town and went to a small cafe – the shack – where we had a little bit to eat for lunch before having a quick look around some of the shops there, which were very surf and artsy on the most part. We went to the I Site there and bought some coasters.
After we finished we headed onto the SH23 and then onto the SH39 towards our next stop – Otorohanga. In Otorohanga is the Kiwi and bird house, which I remember David Hirst recommending, so we bought some tickets and went inside.
The highlight is the brown kiwis that are in a semi dark room, in a large windowed enclosure. This was the first time we had a good look at real live kiwis – only having had the brief look on the Milford Track. They are quite large and cool. After there were quite a number of other enclosures, showing a lot of different birds in NZ. Bhavni narrowly avoided getting bitten by a duck, which instead went for me – luckilly I was wearing jeans. The last bit was a massive walk through aviary which was full of parakeets.
After we continued on the SH3, past Te Kuti. This was new territory for us as we had never been this way before. The road made its way to the coast and we had some nice views. We came to the “3 sisters” – large pilers or arches of rocks – on the coast and we decided to stop and have a a look. The sign on the beach said the sisters were only approachable at low tide, so I was a little apprehensive, but with others still out there we decided to go and have a look, skirting past the water on the narrow rock path. We got to one of the three sisters – the only one you could see from land – which had a arch all the way through it and you could see the other two sisters further down the cost. We took some pictures and headed back, continuing to New Plymouth.
Arriving at New Plymouth, we made out way to our accommodation – the Be My Guest B&B, where we were met by Helen, who showed us to our room and gave us some maps and information about where to eat. We got ready and went into the city centre, parking near the main area. The first place that Helen recommended for Italian was closed so we walked down the main road to the other recommended Italian and booked a table for 8pm,
We had a bit of time to spare, so we headed towards the waterfront, we just missed the sun set, but managed to see the clouds go from golden to dark. Also the top of mount Teranaji was visible from town, after hiding in the cloud all day. We had a look at the wind wand, taking some pictures and had a bit of a stroll down the waterfront before heading back to the restaurant.
After a ok meal, we drive back to the B&B and went down to the tv lounge to watch some TV. Another couple arrived later, having driven down from Auckland also – just leaving at 6pm.
Saturday 30th
We woke up to the sound of pouring rain at around 8am, we got ready and ventured out to the kitchen where we were greeted by Helen for breakfast.
We had cereal, coffee and tea for starters. I had poached eggs from the hens outside, whilst Bhavni had avocado on toast. We had a lively breakfast discussing all sorts of things and looking at the steel sky outside.
Leaving we headed into town and went to the Saturday market, where we bought some Turkish bread, some avocados and a bag of peppers. We went to the I centre and got a map for Mount Teranaki. After a bit of dilliberation, we got in the car and headed past Egmont Village to the North Egmont Visitor Center. As we headed up Egmont Road, it started raining and as we got to the lush tree area we were soon into fog. We eventually got to the car park, which was quite full considering the weather.
Inside the center, we asked about the walk here and it was suggested we do the Veronica track – around 2 hours, even with the foggy weather. The doc person also suggested it may be better to do the walk the other way around. So with Bhavni giving me a wierd look, we started on the walk.
Not that bad going, though the usual lots of downs and ups. We had some occasional drizzle and our waterproofs kept on getting wet with the foliage brushing against us. It was a long while before we saw anyone else on the track – almost making us think we were the only ones crazy enough to do this in the weather – all going the correct way.
At the top of the track there was a bench where we sat and admired the view (of fog) ! Here the track to the top of the mountain started, so we went up to the first viewing area, though not much of a view again.
Coming back to the DOC center was quite fast and it was nice to get indoors. We could not have a coffee there as there were no seats available, so we got in the car and headed back down of the mountain.
As we got down the road and cleared the fog we could see patches of blue sky, and soon enough we were back under quite a pleasant sky. On the way back we visited Tapure, which is now a public garden (though it used to be owned by a wealthy family). We had a nice long walk on the yellow route admiring the last of the blooms, pools and foliage, as well as seeing the old houses. After the walk we went to the tea shop just down the road from there and had some hot drinks. We met a couple (originally from the uk but in NZ for 10 years), who were from Napier, and we had a little chat about things to do here. There was a stray cat who kept on trying to brush up against everyone there, so we were always getting surprised.
After our tea, we drove back to the B&B and got changed. Bhavni put on a dress as the sun was out. We headed into town, first to the interesting bridge over the river on the coastal walkway (east side of town) – part suspension and part cantilevered bridge. Bhavni got roped into taking a couple of pictures – indian tourists.
From there we drove to the other side near the port to one of the cone remnants of the volcanoes. The guide in the visitor centre had said that we could go to the top and even her 75 year old father did it the other day. Sure enough we could go up it, and it stared fine with nice stairs and a walkway, when suddenly the easy path ended and we had some chain anchored into the rock and steep narrow rock paths. We got up to the top – slightly bemused that we had to go down the same path. The view was really nice from here, as it was right next to the sea, and we could see some of the island there as well as town. Bhavni having better sight than me even spotted the wind wand. We had a while before sunset (1.5h), but we decided to stay and watch it. A few people came and went (the ones in jandles were crazy). It was a nice sunset and we were glad we stayed. Luckilly the walk down was not as bad as we thought it would be.
As it was now past 7, we went for dinner. Yesterday we has spotted a south Indian place, so we decided to try it. We got in up the stairs and it was reasonably busy with locals. The only other Indians were the staff. We ordered vera to start followed by a masala dosa and some other dishes. I have to say we should have just ordered 2 masala dosa for mains, it was really good. Well we went back after and recommended the place to Helen.
We watched a little bit of tv, before the other guests arrived (police academy), then we retired for the night. (Helen was positively happy that Bhavni was walking around in her ‘Jammies’).
Sunday 31st
We woke up again to the sound of heavy rain. Even more then yesterday. After getting ready, we went out to the kitchen and met Helen for breakfast again. It was a similar breakfast to the day before, but this time the other guests were a couple from China. We had an amusing discussion about weather and nice places to see in New Zealand, before we finished breakfast. Helen and Bhavni exchanged numbers and we packed up our bags and loaded up the car before heading out into town.
With the rain, we went to the art gallery in town – dedicated to the person who built the wind wand and it was the second last day that it was open for a couple of years. We actually got there a bit before it opened, but we managed to avoid the rain until it opened.
We spent a little while looking at the exhibits and some of the more funky stuff, before we went to the next door cafe and had a coffee (mainly to avoid the rain). After we went to the museum adjacent to the I-site, which was actually quite good, though we only spent a short time in there.
We got back to the car and started our indirect journey back. We first drove (in the rain) to Stratford, where we stopped for a little bit. As we were near lunch time we bought a bit of snack from the bakery (not to Bhavnis taste) and watched the clock tower from accross the road, which did the scene from Romio and Juliet with puppets. The rain had mostly stopped and it was now just cloudy.
From Stratford, we began our next leg of the journey – on the SH43 – The Forgotten Highway. The route had a sign saying last petrol for 170km. The route was quite a nice drive through land that for the most part reminded us of driving in Yorkshire. It was a pity that it was cloudy as on some of the passes you would have been able to see Mount Teranaki and the centre mountains at the same time. This whole highway is a remnant of the gold rush times when this was the main route, and we read a few information boards about how the road was built.
We passed a couple of VW vans and eventually got to Whangamomomna, which is the biggest village along the highway (and in fact an independent state). We went to the famous hotel there – the owner was not in the greatest of moods – and ordered a bowl of chips. Well we got a large bowl of chips back – slight struggle to finish them. It was lucky we got there when we did as it got busier after. We both watched amused as the owner only would serve someone through a window as they were wet.
Leaving the hotel we carried on the drive and got to the river road, which after a tunnel led to the Tangaraku George which was a 12km unsealed section with some high bluffs and sheer cliffs. We had to go past a few people who all waved and said hello :). After the gorge, the road became sealed again and we arrived in Taumuruni, which was the end of the forgotten highway.
It was around 5pm so we stopped at the town for a break, going to the 4 square for some resupplies and a short walk. Carrying on north on the way to Te Kuiti, with Bhavni driving, we suddenly passed a sight which we had seen around 10 months ago (with Shamil). We turned the car around and went to stand on the stones in silly poses again.
After that we carried on and as the sun was going down we got to Te Kuiti and had to stop to take some photos of fiery clouds. I’m sure the locals were giving us strange looks as I literally hopped out of the car and started taking photos while Bhavni drove away (to look where to park/turn around).
After that is was plain sailing to Auckland via Hamilton.
Monday 1st April
We had a late start, spending the morning at home, unpacking and sorting out.As the day was nice we thought it would be nice to go to the city and see the Art Museum which we had never managed to get to. We popped in the car and drove to the city. There seemed to be little parking, I found one, but we thought we could do better…. should have stayed there as nearly 20 minutes later we had given up. There were road closures in the city so something was going on.
Giving up, we drove to Ponsonby – on the way finding out on the radio that there is a marathon/race in the city – no wonder. We had a little walk around and had a browse of the shops there.
Going home we watched the marathon on tv and chilled for the rest of the day, as well as making some home made pizza with the home made mozzarella.
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