Trip to Taranaki

One of the last big areas we hadn't been to in New Zealand was Taranaki, known for its dairy industry, oil and gas deposits, and the iconic and majestic volcano named Mount Taranaki. So we picked that as the destination for the long Easter weekend and decided to bring our cat along since we haven't found a cattery up in Auckland yet and don't know anyone else who would be in town for the holiday and would be trustworthy enough to watch him with all of his quirks and erratic behavior. He's not just a regular sleep all the time boring cat. Thankfully there was a pet-friendly Airbnb near the location we wanted to visit.

 

Joining the other large percentage of people leaving Auckland for the 4- or 5-day weekend (depending on whether one's work gives Easter Tuesday off), we hit about an hour's delay south of the city where the lanes merge, and some various breaks (including a stop at the Taco Bell out at a truck stop near Drury) turned it into a seven-hour drive to Taranaki. Seeing Mount Taranaki when driving in is a cool experience. It's a beautiful view.

We settled into the place and relaxed - it's funny how sitting all day in the car can still make you tired. The next morning, we headed to Mount Egmont National Park (Mount Egmont is the British name for Mount Taranaki) for a hike since we wanted to take advantage of the lack of rain (since it's on the west coast, it gets a lot of rain). The loop track was mostly straight uphill with lots of stairs, with a lookout area at the top part. One of the stark contrasts is where the farmland ends and the park begins - suddenly it becomes forest-y and dense after miles of pastures with animals.

Mountain-top is shrouded in clouds

View from the lookout area

Another view from the lookout area - the white buildings are the visitor center area, where we started

I noticed some unique-looking fungi or some type of strange gelatinous plant on the hike down and stopped for some photos. One looked like Mancala beads. 

 

We had lunch on a picnic bench with a mountain view, and then headed to the Puke Ariki Museum in downtown New Plymouth. It was a cool museum and the exhibit on inventions from people from the Taranaki region was interesting and insightful. I'm adding to my knowledge of New Zealand by filling in more about the interior regions of the North Island. 

"Labels for beer and soft drinks made in Taranaki"

Gotta love the natural history elements of museums

Wind stones, or ventifacts, created by wind blowing sand against rocks (top)

cool giant crab fossil

The next day we went to the free - yes, free - Brookdale Zoo, which was a small zoo that was part of Pukekura Park. The park was opened in 1876 for the local community and has some other things we didn't have time to check out. The zoo had a children's playground in the middle, with some enclosures around the edge. It had a couple capybaras, meerkats, and reptiles, and a free-flight aviary with some very colorful pheasants and parrots. The one pheasant had a type of feather shield, over which it peaked one eye - very strange but fun to look at! 

 

We then ventured about an hour's drive south to the South Taranaki region near Hawera for the popular and praised Tawhiti Museum. It is a private museum developed by an ex-art teacher, Nigel Ogle, with a love for history, and it covers a large area being housed in a former cheese factory. He has created many dioramas of Taranaki history, many of them based on photographs or artworks from the settler times, as well as life-size models (using casts of real people he knows). It is an impressive collection and does help bring what could be dry historical facts to life. There is a high amount of detail in the dioramas - cats and water swirls and body movements that add to the life-like quality. We went on the train ride and it was a fun experience - something about trains... 

 

 

Otherwise, we tried some new ice cream food items. The new Pineapple Lumps ice cream bar based on the famous New Zealand Pineapple Lumps candies was surprisingly good. It reminded us of the Dole Pineapple Whip in Disneyland. The Ben and Jerry's ice cream bar was more subdued. The tub of Magnum Luxe Gold Caramelised Chocolate was rich and delicious. It actually has a press to break area on the right side where you break the 'crackign caramelised chocolate shell' before digging in. It tasted of Teddy Grahams from the U.S. so also brought back memories.

 

For dinner, we ate at an American-style diner called Deluxe Diner in New Plymouth. Unfortunately, their ice cream machine has been broken for weeks, and we didn't realize they don't actually have all-day breakfast, only until 4pm, but we managed, and the silver lining was that we instead opted to try their pumpkin pie and it was really good. It was homemade and warm and soft with a thick caramel drizzle around the plate good for swirling the pie in before eating a bite. I have rarely if ever seen pumpkin pie served in NZ, and they actually nailed their own take on it. 

It's possible we stopped at the Taco Bell near Drury again on the way back for a snack...  It turned out to be quite an American-themed food experience this trip.

Hamilton Gardens and Weta Workshop Unleashed

Rather than taking a trip somewhere on the North Island, in the new year we went on an easier-to-do day trip to Hamilton, which is about an hour and a half south of Auckland. I’d heard good things about the Hamilton Gardens but no one really explained that they were much more than the typical botanic gardens experience. They have lots of specialty/themed gardens and are constructing a couple more. I was impressed and would like to take some of my plant-loving friends there.

Fantasy Garden - like an Alice in Wonderland area

 

Fantasy Garden - facilities fit for a giant

 

First time seeing kiwifruit growing

Tudor Garden

Maori food storehouse (for kumara/sweet potatoes, etc.)

India Char Bagh Garden - my favorite with lots of color

Asian garden with bonsai

Chinese Scholars' Contemplation Garden

We also went to the nearby Waikato Museum, which we had almost to ourselves on New Year's Day. It had new information about the history of the Waikato region and a fair amount of artwork as well. The traffic coming back was so light, it was strange.

Otherwise, the other experience we had during the break was go to the Weta Workshop Unleashed experience in downtown Auckland and see some behind-the-scenes views of how they create special effects for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films. It was interesting to get more insight into the research and work that goes into developing the world and the creatures. A lot is based on the weird things we have in the real world; truth can be stranger than fiction.

The three made-up films used to explain the special effects process
(horror, fantasy, and sci-fi)

 

Miniature fantasy land

This robot is 5 meters tall but can be made to look 15 meters tall
with certain angles and effects.

My holiday break is over, so it's back to working and waiting to see if the vaccine rollout changes the border restrictions. There are so many places still to explore around here and I hope to get to adventure out on some more day trips this year in between all of the writing projects I've got.   

Safe Harbor

Reflecting on 2020, I know how fortunate it was that I ended up being in one of the safest countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. For all of its issues, New Zealand turns out to have been quite a good place to move to a few years back. I had no idea how all of the world politics would play out back then of course, but it's made the decision about whether to stay or go back to the US after studying fairly easy. Now that I have secure employment, there's really not much to go back for anyway. Building up networks takes time, and the idea of having to do that yet again in a place where I'd just be another American doesn't sound very appealing. Four weeks of paid vacation, two weeks of paid sick time, and plentiful paid public holidays, along with free public healthcare really take the stress levels down compared to the U.S. Things can always change of course, but for now, I'll enjoy the relaxed lifestyle, ten-minute walk to the beach, and freedom of movement due to NZ's elimination strategy for Covid.

So what have I been up to since the lockdown period that ended in May 2020? 

We got kicked out of our flat because the landlord sold the building, and having the constant string of open houses and viewings was a real pain. But it turned out to be a good thing because that place was damp and full of mold and didn't have a proper kitchen. And when I pulled out stuff from the storage area under the house, there was even more mold so we had to do a lot of extra cleaning just to be able to pack stuff.

This area next to the fridge was hiding lots of gross mold.

After the inevitably exhausting move itself, we've settled into the new place which feels like a real house and has a heatpump/AC in the living room plus two screen doors on either end so we can get more fresh air and be more comfortable. Unfortunately, the landlords here weren't very exacting with the cleanliness when the previous tenants moved out, so I also had to clean up a bunch of mold on the door and window frames at the new place. I was really tired of cleaning for that month because it felt like it was endless. But otherwise this place is pretty good. It's also a quick walk to the beach.

Our cat adjusted quickly and has claimed sleeping spots pretty much anywhere available. We promised to get him a bigger cat condo after the move so he has enjoyed perching here to watch the birds and enjoy the sunshine.

We've gone to the zoo several times and enjoyed watching the animals playing and sleeping and doing what they do. 

There was a second lockdown in Auckland in August due to a community outbreak. I haven't experienced waiting in line with social distancing to go to Kmart before, but there we were. Thankfully this outbreak was contained relatively quickly and since then things have felt close to normal.

Big news was that we got to vote here and see how simple the ballot is compared to ones in the U.S. Two things to make a decision on: local representative vote and party vote, and then two extra things this time for referendum votes on legalizing cannabis and euthanasia. No ID required and there were voting stations everywhere. It felt like how a real democratic process can and does work.

I discovered Martha's Backyard, "The American Store", which is outside of one of the big malls here, and was amazed by all of the food and treats and baking supplies from home available. They had Rice and Corn Chex which made for better Chex Mix and Muddy Buddies. Due to import prices though, it's like going to Costco. You walk out with a handful of things and the bill is over $100. Worth it though!

We had a Halloween party with new coworkers and friends and the pumpkin carving was a hit. I know they don't have these silly traditions elsewhere, but it's still astounding people can live for decades without having experienced things that I did/do every year! There was still trick-or-treating, although apparently we don't live in one of the neighborhoods that has a lot of kids doing it. We got about five or six groups of kids and almost all of them were in costumes. And we had mini Tootsie roll pops from the international section of one of the grocery stores to give out, so I suspect they were in for a surprise when they got to the center of those! I know my coworkers were. What is this? I had to explain and show them the owl commercial. :)

I've been taking the ferry occasionally to get downtown (parking is outrageously expensive, so it doesn't make sense to try to park the car down there), and it's a nice 10-minute cruise across with nice views of the harbor and bridge. 

During the Christmas break, we went to the Auckland Museum and Maritime Museum. They have some cool stuff and it wasn't too crowded at either place. The Maritime Museum had lots of sailing vessels, including traditional boats and outrigger canoes from Polynesian cultures all the way up to the big yachts they use in the America's Cup competition, which is going on during the summer months in Auckland.

There's a special Lego exhibition at the museum, so they added
mini Lego versions to some of the exhibits.

Finally, I felt obligated to go out on New Year's Eve since NZ is one of the few places able to have people congregating and ringing in the new year. I was glad I did - the excitement of a crowd counting down till midnight and enjoying fireworks together is a good way to close out a year. NZ has felt like a safe harbor over the past year and hopefully it continues to be so.