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| The awesome pigs also have a lie-in |
I woke with the alarm at 9, but had a slight lie-in & a lazy 1st part or the morning as my bus wasn't due until 1050.
There was a cocoon in one of the other bunks. She was also having a lazy morning!
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| Decoration at Juno Hall BBH |
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| Ditto |
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| It was a slightly grey day |
Once up I used the post-porridge time to photo the pigs, & the interesting bits & pieces in the hostel.
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| Juno's yellow-eyed cat - no name, sorry |
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| NZ countryside from the bus. The hill looked dry, but everything else was pretty lush |
Then it was time to stuff what was left of my food into the ruckie & head down to the village for the bus.
On the way to the village I called into Waitomo Adventures to get the Epic peeps' list of names I used in the previous blog.
When I came out there was a slight drizzle, so I christened my poncho.
It was huge & easily went over me & my ruckie, but it only had press-stud fastenings, so it may have been less useful in a wind %\
It was huge & easily went over me & my ruckie, but it only had press-stud fastenings, so it may have been less useful in a wind %\
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| A la bus to New Plymouth |
Naked Bus had warned that SH3 road works may cause a delay, & the bus was late, arriving at 1120 with same driver as on the way out.
I got the front seat & chatted to him on the way to New Plymouth.
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| It was still a grey day This is either the Mangaotaki Stream or the Awakino |
Despite the grey day it was a good trip, but the sleeping Korean next to me missed most of it!
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| Still in the hinterland at this point |
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| Err ~ The Mokau estuary? |
There were 2 rivers running alongside the SH3 as far as the coast. I forgot to ask what they were called that day, but Gmaps says they were the Mangaotaki Stream & the Awakino River.
From the 'time-taken' info from the Lumix, the 3 river pics are probably the Awakino, taken before we hit the coast near Awakino village.
Once we hit the coast, the SH3 went almost due south to Mokau & its big estuary.
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| Raining on the Mokau estuary |
Gmaps doesn't say what this island is called, but I know the area is famous for Whitebait fishing.
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| A pretty boring pic It probably looked better in real life ;-p |
Another reason to re-visit - I like whitebait!
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| I defo need to spend more time in this area, & get better pics ;-) |
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| Brief view of the Mokau |
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| Bush to the east of the road |
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| Ditto. It was So lush |
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| Before I got off I took a photo of my sore finger tips. They felt worse than they look :-) |
After Mokau we passed some Really lush bush.
I'd love to be able to walk there.
I had to change buses again at New Plymouth, & got some more bug spray & steroid cream at the Centre City pharmacy while I waited. I was due at Kapiti Island on the 9th, & didn't want to be a snack for the flying/crawling beasties there!
On my bus to Stratford I sat next to Dale, a lady from Palmerston North who'd been to see the same SOLΞMIO concert as the lady I'd met on Saturday.
I must check out their performances: They are clearly very popular.
Dale said it had been at the NP Bowl, & had been a bucket-list trip for her.
Of course I told her about my imminent bucket-list fast-jet flight ~ only 4 days to go now!
At Stratford I went to the i-Site to check my route out of town for Dawson Falls, went to the loo, & set off walking at 1535.
It was a smidgen under 25K, so was hoping to be as lucky as I had been on Friday. Carrying the Dawsons Falls sign I'd made at Hawera, I walked down Celia St out of town.
I must check out their performances: They are clearly very popular.
Dale said it had been at the NP Bowl, & had been a bucket-list trip for her.
Of course I told her about my imminent bucket-list fast-jet flight ~ only 4 days to go now!
At Stratford I went to the i-Site to check my route out of town for Dawson Falls, went to the loo, & set off walking at 1535.
It was a smidgen under 25K, so was hoping to be as lucky as I had been on Friday. Carrying the Dawsons Falls sign I'd made at Hawera, I walked down Celia St out of town.
In keeping with Stratford's Shakespeare thing, Celia was a character in As You Like It, & I followed her road for about 10 minutes before I got a lift from a car I'd seen pass me a couple of minutes earlier.
The driver was Ron, & he'd been going home from town, but on pulling into his drive decided he might as well give me a lift as he had nothing else to do that afternoon.
How amazing is that?
I've said it before, but it's true so I'll say it again, NZ people are so kind.
On the journey, Ron told me he had been a farmer locally, but had sold his farm & retired.
When Ron dropped me off he turned round & drove home, making it a round trip of about 45K just to be kind to a total stranger!
When I checked in, Sera offered me a free upgrade.
She said that as I had made such an effort to stay there & had vacated my room on Saturday so they could accommodate the weekend guests, she had put me in a double with a bath & a good view :-) Awesome!
I took the usual photos to record the event, & then washed a few bits & pieces in the sink while the bath filled.
I hung them out on the balcony in the sun & mountain breeze & planned a walk in the afternoon sun before dinner.
Sera had already taken my food order: today I would have crudites, duck, chocolate tart.
The driver was Ron, & he'd been going home from town, but on pulling into his drive decided he might as well give me a lift as he had nothing else to do that afternoon.
How amazing is that?
I've said it before, but it's true so I'll say it again, NZ people are so kind.
On the journey, Ron told me he had been a farmer locally, but had sold his farm & retired.
When Ron dropped me off he turned round & drove home, making it a round trip of about 45K just to be kind to a total stranger!
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| The view from my balcony towards the mountain . . . |
When I checked in, Sera offered me a free upgrade.
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| & in the other direction |
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| I would awake to an Amazing view |
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| The rooms were named Swiss-style |
I took the usual photos to record the event, & then washed a few bits & pieces in the sink while the bath filled.
I hung them out on the balcony in the sun & mountain breeze & planned a walk in the afternoon sun before dinner.
Sera had already taken my food order: today I would have crudites, duck, chocolate tart.
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| Bathroom door & balcony |
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| 10 minutes later this bath would be full of water & a Shirley! |
Bath over, I dressed for dinner & had a short walk to get different views of the area around the lodge.
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| Rock & Rata on the lawn outside the Lodge |
The sun was still fairly high, but there was still cloud around the top of Taranaki.
Still, it made for atmospheric photos
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| Fanthams in cloud |
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| A walk in the bush |
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| Zoomed pic from top of the viewing platform |
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| Pouwhenua o Nga Ruahine |
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| The Tasman is out there somewhere |
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| Another great tree |
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| Pouwhenua o Nga Ruahine & the bush from the viewing platform near the DOC building |
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| Looking mountain-wards |
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| The cloud is beginning to clear |
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| Pouwhenua o Nga Ruahine, manuka & tī kōuka |
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| Bas from DOC told me what this was, but I accidentally deleted his E after the blog about D/Falls to Waitomo - doh! :-/ |
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| Taranaki before dinner |
Back at the lodge I found there were 2 German guests & a French couple.
My notes say the Germans were nice but "French not".
Other than that I have no idea about my fellow guests.
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| My chocolate tart |
The Lumix battery died after
this
< - -Taranaki pic, so Marcus charged the battery while I slurped the last of the pinot noir I'd started on Friday, & headed towards the duck via the crudites.
this
< - -Taranaki pic, so Marcus charged the battery while I slurped the last of the pinot noir I'd started on Friday, & headed towards the duck via the crudites.
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| It tasted great, too :-q |
Then I ate my lovely chocolate tart, which came with vanilla ice cream & a dark chocolate swirl.
Yum yum :-))
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| Post-cloud photo |
Replete, the Lumix managed a couple more pics before it went back on charge overnight.
After dinner I went
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| Fanthams & Taranaki as the sun sets |
on-line to book my taxi between the 2 airports on Friday, & replied to Es which had arrived since Thursday.
Bed came at 1020 & it was a windy night.
There were also stars, but my camera was on charge in the kitchen, so I couldn't get a record of stars over Taranaki :-/
Maybe next time?
Bed came at 1020 & it was a windy night.
There were also stars, but my camera was on charge in the kitchen, so I couldn't get a record of stars over Taranaki :-/
Maybe next time?
March 8th: Dawson Falls to Barnacles at Paraparaumu via Hawera
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| It was the first & one of my favourite pics of the day :-) |
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| (Yet) Another Taranaki pic as the morning mist rises |
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| Mountains in the morning mist |
I'd timed it just right.
Minutes later it was a lot more misty.
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| Lush bush below, bare mountain above |
The cloud disappeared though, & the next few were taken during breakfast (muesli, ham & cheese butty, melon & kiwi, coffee & tea!), so I'll let the beautiful Taranaki tell the story for a while
After the final pic from my room, I set off down the hill at about twenty to ten.
No dead possums or lifts this time ;-)
My notes say "very little passed", so I just kept walking along Manaia Rd., enjoying the tuis etc singing in the bush either side.
The walk through the bush part of the road took about an hour & 20 min to walk, & hanging the ruckie on the Dwsons Falls sign I got a couple of pics as I left the bit with bush either side.
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| As above, but more zoom |
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| Is that a rata on the right? The lines of the ancient . . . |
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| lava flows are clear in the morning light |
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| Wow! |
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| The cloud is thinking about it! |
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| I think this was taken from my balcony after breakfast? |
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| The last pic before I set off walking down the hill |
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Pretty sure this is a Northern Rata?
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No dead possums or lifts this time ;-)
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| And this? Love this pic :-) Like a dragon calling for its mate |
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| Despite no lift, it was a nice walk. It helped that it was downhill ;-p |
My notes say "very little passed", so I just kept walking along Manaia Rd., enjoying the tuis etc singing in the bush either side.
The walk through the bush part of the road took about an hour & 20 min to walk, & hanging the ruckie on the Dwsons Falls sign I got a couple of pics as I left the bit with bush either side.
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| Minutes after 11am & 6Km down the road No lift yet :-/ |
The road would pass though farmland from here on.
btw. the brief-casey thing had my laptop in!
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| Manaia Rd. The only way to Dawson Falls |
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| The mountain was still cloudless . . . |
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| So I got a few more while the getting was good |
There began to be a bit more traffic ~ ie: a vehicle every 10 min or so!
However, they were farmers going about their daily duties, & mostly only going to the next field along, & not all the way to Manaia - which was another 20Km down the road.
So I kept walking.
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| Fanthams Peak & Taranaki at 1/4 past 11 |
And walking!
Apart from stopping every few minutes to get more photos!
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| The cloud (top right) is still thinking about it |
It was unusual for me to see Taranaki cloudless, so I took loads in the hope of getting one that was interesting & good enough to blow up for the wall at home.
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| Fecund farmland, lush bush, & my favourite mountain |
There'd been a sign for Hollard Gardens at the junction of Manaia & Opunake Rd., I was thinking about a brew!
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| Just north of Hollard Gardens at 1204 |
This --->
was my final Taranaki pic of 2016: from ground level, anyway!
Hollard Gardens was about 2Km from the Junction, & 5Km from the Dawsons Falls sign, & I was ready for a brew :-q
On the ride she said her name could be for a boy or girl, but I can find no trace on Google, so must assume I am at the mercy of my rubbish hieroglyphics again :-/
It turned out she'd been spending time at the Gardens & was off back home in Hawera for lunch. Shortly after the introductions/explanations (ie: why I was hitching down a deserted road), she offered to take me home for lunch.
How kind & generous!
Ravilee was having a day off work as a lab-technician, & was headed home via a bakery at Manaia - apparently the best one around. We stopped outside Yarrows (I just googled it!) & Ravilee bought a load of goodies, & bought me a cream horn type thingy.
It turns out Manaia is the 'Bread Capital', but not sure if that's of NZ or the Taranaki region?
Ravilee said she'd come to NZ in 2000 & had lived in Auckland, coming to Hawera in 2012.
Given her scientific job, I told her about the didymo problem, & was surprised she'd not heard of it.
On the way back to her house she ripped off a bit of the bread she'd bought. It was sour-dough & very tasty :-q
Ravilee lived in a cute little bungalow on Caplen St., & offered me a shower while she got lunch ready, but I just had a slight clean-up, before a quick wander around her nice little garden which had lemon & apple trees, strawberries & a vegetable plot.
My notes say lunch was spicy & included rice, avocado salad, coffee & my cream cone.
However, although there were a couple of cars in the car park, there was no sign of life ~ other than the plants, and no sign of a cafe.
So I kept walking ;-p
My notes say I'd walked about 6Km since the sign, & I was 15min past Hollard Gardens before I got a ride from Ravilee from Sri Lanka. On the ride she said her name could be for a boy or girl, but I can find no trace on Google, so must assume I am at the mercy of my rubbish hieroglyphics again :-/
It turned out she'd been spending time at the Gardens & was off back home in Hawera for lunch. Shortly after the introductions/explanations (ie: why I was hitching down a deserted road), she offered to take me home for lunch.
How kind & generous!
Ravilee was having a day off work as a lab-technician, & was headed home via a bakery at Manaia - apparently the best one around. We stopped outside Yarrows (I just googled it!) & Ravilee bought a load of goodies, & bought me a cream horn type thingy.
It turns out Manaia is the 'Bread Capital', but not sure if that's of NZ or the Taranaki region?
Ravilee said she'd come to NZ in 2000 & had lived in Auckland, coming to Hawera in 2012.
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| Yarrows from outside (pic fr Romany Rambler) |
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| While googling Yarrows, I also found this pic (also from Romany Rambler) Awesome tenets, eh? :-)) |
Given her scientific job, I told her about the didymo problem, & was surprised she'd not heard of it.
On the way back to her house she ripped off a bit of the bread she'd bought. It was sour-dough & very tasty :-q
Ravilee lived in a cute little bungalow on Caplen St., & offered me a shower while she got lunch ready, but I just had a slight clean-up, before a quick wander around her nice little garden which had lemon & apple trees, strawberries & a vegetable plot.
My notes say lunch was spicy & included rice, avocado salad, coffee & my cream cone.
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| Ravilee's apple tree & swing |
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| My knees were slowly recovering from the Waitomo experience! |
My bus was at ten to four, but I wanted to shop at the i-Site 1st, so Ravilee took me down with 1/2 an hour or so to spare, & we parted with hugs.
What a lovely lady :-)))
At the i-Site I got a great T-shirt for Katie (my young cat-sitter for most of the month I was here). I also took a pic of my knees in the loo!
When the bus arrived it had the same driver as on Friday, so I did the 'chat to the driver' thing I liked to do.
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| Another pic of a bruised knee: taken on the bus before we got to Bulls |
At Bulls I had a Subway sandwich & a brew, & discovered Ron was the Mana-Bus driver again, so I sat chatting to him most of the way down.
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| Ron at the wheel, just after Bulls |
Another example of helpful bus drivers in NZ bending the rules! :-)
Ron dropped me off at Pararparaumu bus station, & I caught a bus down to the beach almost immediately.
I was due to be staying at Barnacles, & another helpful bus driver told me where to get off & pointed me in the right direction.
Ron dropped me off at Pararparaumu bus station, & I caught a bus down to the beach almost immediately.
I was due to be staying at Barnacles, & another helpful bus driver told me where to get off & pointed me in the right direction.
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| Pic off the net by Hotels.com, but it was dark when I arrived. |
It was dark by then, but I found Barnacles within 5 minutes, & an old lady checked me into a female dorm.
There were 2 other girls already there & they had both bagged a bottom bunk :-(
The top was very creaky getting up & down, & would make a lot of noise in the quiet hours. Oops!
I had an early start the next day, so soaked my porridge for an hour before cooking it. While it was soaking, my tea consisted of 2 bananas & 3 plums - at least I'd had that Subway sarnie! I also managed to brew a cuppa & filched some sugar for it. I'm ass-backwards to most: I take sugar in tea but not coffee.
Barnacles didn't provide towels, so I jumped up & down a bit when I was in the shower to get the worst of the drips off, & used the hand-drier to get the worst water out of my hair ~ I didn't want to pack a wet towel.
Bed (minus sudoku-too tired) came at just after 10, with the mob alarm set for 0630.
I had to call Kapiti Tours at 0715 to check the boat would be leaving to cross the Rauoterangi Channel (Otaheke Strait). It hadn't been able to sail in December 2014, so my fingers were crossed I'd be luckier this time.
OAO
OAO
