Mt. Taranaki

Carolyn and I spent a weekend with the kids, perhaps our only weekend by ourselves, traveling north to New Plymouth, which is 4 hours from Paekakariki. NP is a rather large city for NZ with 50,000 +. They call themselves the energy capital of the country, mostly from oil wells. They must look like hills and rocks because I didn't see any. What we did see was the father of this whole area, Mt. Taranaki. Because you can look up more information than I can give to you, I will only give you the bare minimum. This volcano is thought to have formed 70,000 years ago and last erupted in the late 1600's. It is the center of this vast area that has plenty to do, especially if you want to walk.

Let me digress for a moment. We stayed in a Youth Hostel called the Mt. Egmont Eco-lodge. All five of us slept in one room that turned out to be big enough, but just barely. The kids loved it, and I liked it. It was just out of the central city district, so we had an easy trip to the beach, to coffee for Carolyn, dinner at a great burger joint, and to Taranaki. Actually, everything is an easy drive to the mountain. This bight, as the larger area is called, is circular because of the lava outflow.

Taranaki is so different from any mountain I have ever seen. It is not a range, as I am used to, because it is a singular 2500+ meter mountain in the middle of vast flat farmland, rising up all by itself. You can see the mountain from many, many kilometers away. It's really kind of cool!

As I was writing before, there are many tracks on and around the mountain. They range from 10 minute loops to a 5 day circumnavigation of the mountain, with the 8 hour return tramp to the summit being the most sought after (needless to say, with 3 youngish children, we didn't do that one, although Phil/Paca would say "what's your problem...they have two feet don't they?"). In fact, because of the diversity of tracks and its easy access, Taranaki is the most climbed mountain in the country. We chose a track called the Veronica Loop Track (that starts in North Egmont), which is supposed to be two hours return, but turned out to be three. Of course, we stopped to gape at the beautiful views, take pictures (yes, Phil and Jean, of birds, too), and complete one of the harder treks we have taken in NZ. My legs were killing me by the end, especially from the downhill. These knees are getting old! One of the interesting things about tramping (that's "hiking" to you yankees) on the trails here is that they are immaculately groomed and maintained. When Carolyn and I remarked about it on this trip, we felt like part of the reason for that must be to ensure that people stay on the trail to preserve the area around it and to ensure that people don't get lost and die. The literature on this mountain, especially, mentioned the need for ultimate preparation when hiking. If you are going to go for a long trek one must bring a certain amount of water, clothes that can get wet and will keep you warm, and you must tell someone where you are going. We didn't experience any of this diversity in weather, but the clouds were rolling down the mountain fairly quickly by the time we left. Suffice it to say, we were all exhausted by the time it ended. So, we decided to rough it even further by going to an aquatic center that had a 50 meter outdoor pool, two huge water slides, a 3 meter and a 1 meter diving board, a large indoor wave pool, a rope swing into the pool, and a hot tub. Pretty nice way to end the day. By the time it was all said and done, the kids were in bed by 8:00 PM and asleep a few minutes later, Carolyn was in bed by 9:00 PM and asleep a few minutes later, and I finally fell asleep by 9:45 PM. We all woke up after 7:00 AM. Ahhhhhh! Carolyn will fill you in on the second day.

We woke up to birds chirping outside our modest abode, I made coffee by pouring boiling water over grinds through a piece of tissue, since the place had no plunger (that's read "french press"). I'm nothing if not resourceful (Jim would say desperate), made breakfast, watched the lodge owner feed the eels in the nearby stream, and off we went. We spent the morning strolling around a city park, of which they are obviously very proud, called Pukekura Park...something of a botanical garden with lovely trails, a small zoo with tons of non-native animals and birds, two playgrounds, and even a waterfall where you could press a button to make the water flow?**! Don't ask because it's a mystery to us, although it was quite entertaining! Here, Becky and David are feeding ducks at a pond that is at the bottom of an outdoor amphitheater.

Headed home, unpacked, Jim cooked tofu (yes, that's right folks, I said "Jim cooked tofu"), we de-sterilized the house after an open house today (they're still trying to sell this house), and here we are. We are lucky....oh, so lucky and grateful for this time of adventure and being together. I'd like to say the "being together" is 100% bliss, but remember we have 3 energetic children...so it's mostly bliss with a small dose of the craziness that follows us everywhere we go because that's just who we are!

After a wonderful weekend of relaxation and togetherness, we are about to move into a time of apart-ness again, as Jim leaves on Tuesday to travel home after only 6 short weeks here so that he can attend his father's memorial service. He'll only be gone a week, but it'll be a long week for all of us. We've done all we can on this end to celebrate Bart/PopPop's life short of actually being there for the service, but we are all so sad not to be there. This is life....one I'm sure Bart is proud to see us living. More on that when the sadness of Jim's departure becomes a reality...