Easter weekend

Hi All,

Well, we've had our first holiday weekend of our, er, year long holiday...

We thought we'd test out our new car by heading up to Taranaki (halfway up the west coast of the North Island) on Friday morning and after a 4 hour drive got there around lunchtime, and headed straight for Mt. Taranaki - a 2,518 metre dormant volcano which dominates the landscape.

We spent a couple of days in the national park, which offers a number of great hikes around the volcano. You can drive halfway up to the peak and hike further up, affording amazing views of the plains below, extending out to the sea. The trails were great and as the area is a rain forest, everything is lush green and covered in moss, and the trails were crisscrossed with streams and waterfalls.

The Taranaki region itself is full of rolling hills and farmland, and the small villages dotted around seem to compete with each other, boasting of being the capital of this or that each with their own kitch giant statue of cows or loaves of bread etc.

Larger is the regional capital of New Plymouth, the major city in the region. Although small by city standards, it has a nice regional cultural identity and serves as the biggest port on the west coast. We headed there one afternoon and walked along the waterfront, to look at the wind wand, a 45 metre narrow piece of carbon fibre modern art which sways in the wind.

All-in-all a great getaway and a nice break from city life!