20th February 2010 - A leisurely, if rather long drive from Wellington along the west coast to New Plymouth

We left Wellington just after 9.00 am and were soon feeling grateful to Merle for her thoughtfulness in giving us some good road maps, especially since we had left our New Zealand guide book back in London and the Avis map that we had wasn't very detailed.

Shortly after our first stop, we got our first sighting of Taranaki

Driving north from Opunake, the landscape changed and strange "hobbit-like" bumps emerged

Late that afternoon, we drove into New Plymouth, where we were staying at Airlie House (above)

After unpacking, and armed with a few recommendations from our host, we strolled into town to look for a good restaurant.

We found a place which looked promising,
but which turned out to be disappointing.

Geoff clearly wasn't too impressed with his meal!

The streets were eerily quiet.
Just Saturday evening, we wondered?

The following morning (21st February), we had an excellent breakfast
which more than made up for the meal the night before.

The view of Taranaki from New Plymouth enticed us into taking a closer look.

We drove through Inglewood, which was preparing for its annual "Americarna road show" (missed it... phew!) and then through Stratford.

We had decided to go first to the East Egmont plateau, where there was a viewing
platform which lies at the transition between subalpine scrub and alpine herbfields.

Unfortunately, the final stretch of the road was closed because helicopters were
dropping possum-bait up ahead and so we had to turn around and travel back to Stratford.

Despite not being able to get to the plateau car park, the views that
we got on the road leading to and from it were absolutely stunning.

After driving back through the bustling main street of Stratford (alright, it was Sunday morning), we continued on towards the
Dawson Falls Visitor Centre                                                                              

Taken from the viewing platform at the Dawson Falls Visitor Centre

Freddie seemed to be enjoying the experience too!

We headed back to New Plymouth, once again passing through Inglewood

Above: Another hobbit-like bump

Above: Map of the area surrounding Taranaki

Back in New Plymouth, we decided to pay a visit to the Pukekura Park and spent a very pleasant afternoon exploring the extensive grounds

We suspect that Susan and Jane would have decided that the flower show was too "municipal", but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

It was very pleasant to walk around a lovely park where there were so few other visitors.
A warm Sunday afternoon withly hardly anyone else around.
Now if this had been somewhere in England, it would probably have been heaving!

After an afternoon nap, we took a stroll along the coastal walkway.

We had booked a table at the Nice Hotel Bistro.
It had been recommended, but then so had the restaurant the previous night,
so we had our doubts, but it proved to be an excellent restaurant!