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.
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| Mountain-top is shrouded in clouds |
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| View from the lookout area |
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| 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.
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| "Labels for beer and soft drinks made in Taranaki" |
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| Gotta love the natural history elements of museums |
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| Wind stones, or ventifacts, created by wind blowing sand against rocks (top) |
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| 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.
