Almost 40 years ago my two friends, Shirley and Averil, and I headed to Taranaki for our first year of teaching. Averil and I were sent to Inglewood and Shirley scored Waitara Central. We lived in New Plymouth for the year before we were shipped to Lower Hutt the following year.
So it was interesting to return to this city after all these years. Some of it was very familiar and of course there has been a lot of development during the course of time.
The house we lived in is still there though is now sporting a very large garage on its front lawn.
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| 7 Karamu Street, Fitzroy |
Our local beach at Fitzroy is still there but lots of redevelopment has happened in this area. One of the new features is the Coastal Walkway/Cycleway that goes through it. Yesterday we cycled this trail all the way from Bell Block where we were staying right into town and then onto the Port. This is an excellent facility, with a lovely wide sealed path all the way. There are numerous entry points along the way and it was great to see so many people using it, even on a Monday.
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| Views out to Paratutu from the Cycleway. |
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The Whalebone bridge. On a good day there should
be a view of the mountain framed by the 'bones'. |
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| View from the bus at our campsite. |
Mount Taranaki certainly dominates the skyline and we were very lucky to wake on Sunday morning to the picture postcard views that we associate with it.
We decided to take a trip out to Inglewood, to check out the school, before heading up to North Egmont Village.
There is an Information Centre here as well as the start of numerous tracks on the mountain. Before tackling the Holly Hut Track Lookout we enjoyed our picnic lunch. There had been snowfalls in the last few days, and we were quite surprised to find so much at this level still. Many of the locals weren't though, as there were dozens of families out and about enjoying it. We made the fairly strenuous walk to the lookout and were rewarded with the views as far as Ruapehu, Ngarorhu and Tongariro. The walk back down was almost as difficult as the snow made it very slippery. Fortunately we returned to our car without any falls.
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| Spot Ruapehu and Tongariro in the background. |
Our next destination was Pukeiti, the world renowned, and Garden of National Significance. This garden boasts 10 000 rhododendrons and azeleas, set amongst New Zealand native bush. We had thought we were a little early in the season but we pleasantly surprised to find the large leaf variety in full flower. This is an amazing garden and well worth the 20km drive along a fairly windy and narrow road.
Pukekura Park, first opened in 1876 is one of New Plymouth's treasures and well worth a visit. We spent a good hour or more, late on Saturday afternoon wandering around the many paths and looking at the points of interest. Once again we were pleasantly surprised that, for late winter, there was plenty to see. The magnolias are definitely the showcase this week.
Puke Ariki is the city centre's show case and houses the Information Centre, the Museum, an Art Gallery, a Cafe and the library. The exhibition in the Art Gallery was celebrating local artists and besides having to share it with a class of school children, were very impressed with both the variety and the standard.
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| Puke Ariki |
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Wind wand - outside
Puke Ariki. |
All in all we really enjoyed our stay here, though like most places we have been to, it is impossible to see everything.
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