Blogs from Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Bei Nieselregen machten wir uns nach dem Frühstück auf den Enchanted Track. Dieser 4 - 5 stündige Track führt am Fuße des Mount Taranaki hauptsächlich durch Regenwald. Der Weg war aufgrund der Schauer der letzten Tage sehr aufgeweicht und teilweise recht anspruchsvoll zu begehen. Umso höher wir kamen, desto tiefer wurde der Schnee. Am Aussichtspunkt angekommen, konnten wir durch den Nebel und die tief hängenden Wolken nicht den ganzen Vulkankegel erkennen. Der Rückweg führte uns noch über eine abenteuerliche Hängebrücke zurück zum Ausgangspunkt. Nach 3 ½ Stunden kamen wir durchnässt, aber glücklicher an unserem Deluxe Camper an. Nachdem wir uns unserer nassen Sachen entledigt hatten, fuhren wir weiter zum Tongariro Nationalpark. Der Weg dorthin führte uns über den Forgotten World Highway. Dieser machte nach ein paar gefahrenden Kilometern seinem Namen auch alle Ehre. Dieser 3 stündige ... read more

Rather sadly, I said goodbye to Sue. It was time to leave; they needed the houseroom, but I was tired of travelling and homesick and I longed to go home. It had been good to be part of a family for a few days, even if it wasn't my own. There were 50-mile-an-hour winds all the way to Napier, and the bus swayed disconcertingly. It hurt my shoulder. We drove along the very edge of a steep gorge, with a lovely whitewater river in it. On the other riverbank, there were train tracks and the occasional tunnel. We stopped for lunch at a Country Cafe in Matamau, and I had an excellent lamb pie. Only two restrooms were available, and one was the restroom of a motel unit, opened up for use by the bus passengers. ... read more

Wednesday we drove up to see Mount Taranaki - a lovely volcano standing by itself on the west coast. We stayed on a comparatively expensive farmstay near Hawera. Beautiful sunshine at the farm & we since it was only around 3pm we decided to pop up to the south part of the mountain & do a short walk or two. We were slightly worried whilst driving as we couldn't see the mountain, only cloud which turned into thick, low cloud as we got closer. Being British we didn't let this stop us & good thing too for as we entered the National Park we emerged into beautiful sunshine again! Most surreal! We went for a lovely circular walk around to see the Wilkies Pools & decided not to do the second short loop as we were ... read more

Helen out in the evening card making with the lady who had the bike to sell, so she advised we wanted it., I went into New Plymouth to buy her new pedals as somehow I removed her pedals before we came out and forgot to pack them! Still not entirely sure how but definitely my fault, so $50 on pedals, along with $650 on the bike itself, and then tried to get cash out in Inglewood but wasn’t able to, and had vague recollection of this having happened before when I was here, something about TSB banks not liking my cash card for some reason. Thankfully everyone is very reasonable over here, and so Mark is going to transfer the money over to them and we’ll pay them back... read more

A rest and recovery day, still feeling a bit odd, sleep wise, and woke a couple of times in the night, but generally trying to stick with staying awake during the day. In the morning, I put the bike together, and then we headed off to the warehouse, to do some shopping. Time to get a few bits and pieces ready for the trip, plug adapters, some novelty t-shirts, and some shorts as, somehow, I’ve managed to break 2 pairs of shorts since we’ve been away!! Anyway, once we’ve finished there, its time to head back and start getting sorted out. Time to unpack, set the bike up ready to head out and about on the hills of Taranaki once again. Not much else happened really, was just a case of trying to get our body ... read more