Haare Mai

Friday 28th November 2008

"Let's Go" I said as the electric gates whirred open and we edged out onto the road with all the windows down to try and cool the inside of the car down.It was 10 am and we knew that the drive to New Plymouth would take at least 5 hours despite being only 215 miles (366km) away. The first part of the journey was the easy bit down highway 1 at a steady 100 km/h then we missed a turning and were driving through Hamilton city centre trying to find the road we needed.We did drive past the motel we stayed at the last time we visited and it brought a smile to our faces as the place was ace compared to some of the hostels we had stayed in but it wasn't long before we found highway 3 towards the South West and New Plymouth.

The next 4 hours were a mixture of sun, cloudbursts and roadworks with stop/go boards.The challenge is to make your way over the chunky gravel without chipping your car or it's windscreen from bouncing stones and also avoiding a mouth full of gravel dust,it is a challenge but we had eight sets to go through and got plenty of practice.I did feel sorry for the bikers who were getting dust trails from the cars right into their faces which could not have been pleasant.

The hostel had advertised free parking but it turned out there wasn't any parking so we drove around for a while trying to find a meter to get parked on,luckily it was nearly 4pm and the town was emptying for the weekend.It is funny how you forget about hostels having their little quirks and this one was no different.Our room and next door were joined by a shower room so you had to close their door and draw the shower curtain otherwise you could end up with an unwanted shower companion!!!

Both Mel and I were hungry but as the i-site (information centre) was straight opposite we checked it out first. "You must go to the Indian resaurant" the English lady proclaimed it's amazing.We politely accepted her advice but neither of us wanted Indian food.Our choice The LAughing Buddha wasn't open until 6pm and quite frankly was out of our price range so we wandered off in search of another establishment.After walking up and down the main street fate dealt us a cruel blow and we ended up at the Indian restaurant but were buoyed by how busy it was for 6.30pm and it looked inviting so we went on in.

It was fully booked but in true Indian entrepeneurial style they fit us in and said if we could be done by 8.30pm they would be much obliged,we said 30 minutes was all that we would need as it had been a long time since lunch.

It all started promising with the cold beer and sheekh kebabs arriving quickly,but after we started noticing that it had been 45 minutes since our starter and we seemed to be the only ones not eating I called over the waiter and asked the whereabouts of our curry which then turned up a few minutes later. It was pretty average and being from Bradford it takes a lot to please us and the naan bread was no bigger than a sideplate and not the blanket size things we are used to.The only positive is that it will stop me getting more obese!!!

In their defence they gave us a $25 voucher to use next time but since we were leaving town in the morning it was useless to us.All that was left was to pray to the gods that the sun would be out tomorrow for our trip to the mountain.

Saturday 29th November 2008

I drew back the curtain and was pleaed to see a vivid blue sky so we bundled up our things and checked out.

It was an early start to get off the meter before 9am and avoid paying,it was just like being back on the road using every little trick we could to save money!!!

A quick look at the map showed it would be a 50km drive to reach the viewing point for the mountain. I drove out of town and Mel gave one of her "Oh my God" cries that makes me feel like I have ran over someone,but it turned out she had just seen the mountain and an "oh my God" was definately deserved.It rose in the distance and looked just like a mountain should look,rising to a point and the peak covered in snow.

Mt Taranaki is not a high peak (under 3000m) but the drive to the base gave us plenty of interesting views.The road wound up to the visitor centre and the trees had grown over with just shafts of light making it to ground level.We made it just in time and got our last good views of the mountain before cloud engulfed it showing how quickly the weather can change.

After a very poor bacon sandwich in the cafe we decided to take the short walk to Dawson Falls,the water comes down off the mountain following an old lava flow channel before dropping off into the plunge pool about 20 metres below which still gave off a deafening sound.The journey home was just 5 hours and we broke it up with a stop at a town we knew well,Otorohanga home of the kiwi house we had visited on our last trip here.Unfortunately it was closed today but seeing the mountain was great and tomorrow we have the famous Santa Parade,so watch this space.

Lots of Love

M & M

xx