jeanhm
Travels with Jean
Every journey starts with a single step
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Taranaki day 2
Oh my, we really couldn't have asked for better weather to see Taranaki, waking to the perfect day which continued whilst we went as far as we could from the Mount Egmont viewing platform (its proper name) It was a nice walk halted because they are rebuilding a suspension bridge. We then did a round the mountain drive along the coast from Manaia to New Plymouth and then back to our accommodation where again we had perfect views of the mountain into the evening and night sky.
I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day for viewing this stunning volcano.
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Taranaki
After a brief overnight in Wellington we headed onwards to Stratford on the edge of Mt Taranaki in the SW corner of North Island. To me this is the perfect volcano but on route we had to go to Palmerston North to the NZ Rugby Museum. We had the place to ourselves and a very knowledgeable volunteer Marj who showed us lots of stuff not on display. It was a fascinating trip though it was disappointing that there were no All Blacks shirts on sale.
The views approaching Taranaki were not favourable with thick cloud obscuring the Mountain. Our accommodation was beautiful, 6km towards the mountain from the town of Stratford and in the middle of nowhere and was a spa (though I didn't know that until we got there). We ate well at the local pub and just hope for better and clearer views tomorrow.
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Fur Seals and Dolphins
We managed to do a return trip to Akaroa in the hope of this time seeing the rare Hectors dolphin that only live in this area and which is the smallest dolphin in the world being approx 1.2m max length. We were told to look out for fins and there would usually be 3 or 4 together but when we found them there where approx 10 so far more than anyone expected so we got a double dose after none at all. These dolphins and grey and rarely jump so it was a question of trying to capture them with noses out of the water.
We spent the night in a lovely little heritage restored cottage in Christchurch and then headed up the coast the following day ready for our ferry crossing back to North Island. This took us along the coast at Goose Bay where we were lucky enough to see dolphins playing out at sea jumping over each other and doing some pretty spectacular aerial jumps. After lunch in Kaikoura we headed on as I hoped we might see baby seals at Ohau. Sadly the stream and rock pool the mums used to leave the babies in is now closed off following the Kaikoura earthquake but a purpose built viewing point has been built and the fur seals have taken over the rock pools on the coast itself. There were literally hundreds, many young playing in the rock pools and waves. It was a fantastic day for wildlife.
Tomorrow we are on the ferry back to Wellington overnight.
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Lawrence and Omarau
On our way from Kaka Point to Omarau we stopped off at Lawrence which was a little gem. The town was actually one of the places which was at the forefront of the Otago Goldrush and has a number of well preserved buildings and an interesting little museum. This was actually a much more interesting place than Arrowtown yet its barely known about. The museum needs to put this place on the map a bit better.
We took one of the old Gold Mining routes over the hills, Gabriels Gully, passing by the most amazing lake, Lake Mahinerangi which was totally stunning with virtually no traffic around. Then it was on to Omarau for the night and the hope of seeing Blue penguins, but sadly it wasn't happening. We did have a really nice walk around the town with its lit up Victorian buildings and spent the evening drinking Belgium beer before retiring to our hotel with its All Blacks memorabilia and skiing gear on the wall of our room, including ice axes!
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Caitlins
it was supposed to be a lovely day but sadly a rather blustery and overcast day but as it is our last day in Kaka point we headed south to the most southerly point on the South Island, Slope Point. It was certainly windy and we got rather wet from the spray coming up from the large waves. It was another tick in the box though.
the only other place we could get to given the weather was Cannibal Bay which was so named as Capt Cook found human bones within the remains of a meal when he landed in the bay. Then it was back to Kaka Point and our apartment for another spa.
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