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14.11.2016
After our black water rafting, we were lucky to use last rays of sunshine to have lunch in one of the lovely parks nearby. Later on, it was just grey clouds and rain... - A pretaste of the days to come. Cruising on the Surf Highway in Taranaki, we felt gutted the weather was so bad and we couldn't try surfing! I would have loved to learn there, as the beaches were breathtaking! Having spotted the sign pointing towards the Three Sisters (rock formations), we decided to stop and enjoy the view. Even though it was absolutely pouring, Chris went to see the beach and take some photos. He decided it was his favourite place (wide, covered with black sand and marked with abundance of stunning drift wood) and he's definitely moving to New Zealand! - Dream on! Anyway, we stopped in a paid campsite in Waitara - near the beach which unfortunately made the wind stronger and my imagination vivid! (We knew that there weren't any tsunami warnings for the west coast where we stayed and many people stopped in the same place, yet I still didn't enjoy the sound of crashing waves and the wind that night - haha, loser!). A basic, indoor kitchen was a Godsend - saved us getting drenched outside while cooking. We spoke to the guy who did the Alpine Crossing the day before and woke up to an aftershock on a... well, still active volcano! He confirmed our assumptions about the weather in Tongariro. The rain was lushing from each direction and he had to spend ages cleaning his gear to get rid of the mud.
15.11 2016
Next morning was Chris' birthday. In my head, we would have woken up in a nice spot and had pancakes for breakfast. We would have also been able to enjoy it sitting outside, sipping coffee and overlooking a scenic view. The reality was drastically different! The rain and wind woke us up and wrapped in our raincoats we rushed to the kitchen to start our day. We still had pancakes, though, so can't complain! Not to waste the day, even though the weather was miserable, we went to explore New Plymouth. We had a stroll around (keeping an eye for second hand shops and skateboard!) and lush burgers and drinks for lunch in one of the bars to celebrate Chris' birthday. Bearly moving afterwards, we spent the rest of the time away in Puke Anari, a free museum. Sleepily, we walked around watching exhibitions about the nature and wildlife of Taranaki. For the night, we stopped in a free campsite near the sea. As it was cold (surprise!), we opened the bubbles and played cards in the camper.
16.10.2016
The next day's weather was pretty mixed, but nevertheless we drove closer to Mt Taranaki in hope of doing the peak walk, having failed to do the treks we had wanted to do in Mt Tarangui. We also picked a better campsite so we could sort our washing out. When we arrived at the bottom of the sleeping monster (the Taranaki volcano), we weren't surpised with our luck - it was raining and the peak was completely covered by clouds! Therefore, we only did the "taster" quick walk to the Dawson Falls. It was a bit squelchy and muddy, yet the scenery utterly beautiful. After coming back to our campsite, we did more laundry and found shelter from the rain in a cosy indoor kitchen. While cooking, we met some nice Polish people who invited us to have some drinks with them (you can guess what we had!). After chatting the evening and bad weather away, we did feel a bit tipsy!
17.11.2016
We took our time to leave the campsite next morning and were lucky to be offered a real coffee from the English couple next door. We only drove as far as Patea beach that day and found a free lovely campsite right near beautiful black sand dunes and the sea. We had lunch outside and a stroll finding interestingly shaped drift wood on the beach, and then the weather worsened again. It was acutally too windy to cook at the back of our Misty, and the gusts of wind were sending black fine sand in every direction. (Come on, New Zealand, it's supposed to be your summer!) We were forced to move to another free spot right up in town - which wasn't too bad and was a tiny bit more sheltered. After we froze our bottoms out cooking the meal, we "chased" the sunset, quickly driving to the lookout point to take some pics only to come back to our night stop afterwards.
19-20.11.2016
The next days were pretty much a slow journey down towards Masterton where we were seeing some of Chris' rugby mates. Put off by the weather, we didn't hope for much, but we managed to find a lovely campsite in a tiny village called Eketahuna. The weather improved for an afternoon and we had a short walk during which we, completelly accidentally - wink wink! - found some good deals in a liquor shop. - Sorted for the evening! :) A local youth club had a bonfire night with fireworks at our campsite that night, so at least we had a free display to cheer us up after rainy days!
We arrived in Masterton on Saturday and, after having a look around and a coffee, we met Chris' mates for lunch. They let us camp in their garden that night so we could chill on their sofas for free which was good! Next morning I was attacked by their dog, trying to walk into their garden, but luckily she must have been more scared than me giving me soft warning nibbles (such a welcoming doggy...) We were advised to go to Castlepoint which was one of the most beautiful spots we visited in New Zealand! We arrived there pretty early, just in a right time to have breakfast at the seafront. The rock formations further on where ubelievably stunning - we climbed up and enjoyed the view of the ocean while observing the fisherman catching one fish after another. (Poor old Chris was soo jealous!) Getting back down involved jumping onto the sand dunes, and don't know why, my brain told me I'm too much of a wimp to do that. A simple task became quite a hilarious challenge and Chris must have spent a good ten minutes ensuring me I would be fine and it was just a tiny jump. It was indeed, but obviously instead of going for it, I landed on my bum like a real special... - graceful as always, haha. The walk towards the top and the lighthouse was very scenic and took us ages, as I was desperate to capture the views on our camera. To make it more interesting, Chris took me for another rocky descend, which saved us going all the way round. Mesmerised by the place, we stayed in a campsite nearby and spent the evening on a beach, looking for crabs, shells and even doing some exercises! Finally! - Lovely weather and a day when we could fully enjoy being out and about!
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