A total gem of urban parkland! And, the sun came out! And, a tui let my take some pictures! And, rusty signs everywhere!. And, no. Wait. Still can't see the top of the mountain!
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The approach to New Plymouth from the south goes either clock-wise or counter clock-wise around the Mt Taranaki volcano. In a not usual choice for us, we decided against taking the coastal route as the weather conditions (for want of a better term) sucked. We went inland & played peep-a-boo with mountains & clouds. I did manage to see some snow-packed ridges, but the peak stayed hidden in clouds. Found a motel & got settled before going to see the Coastal Walkway & Te Rewa Rewa Bridge. Terrible roadway signage made it a challenge to find, but it was worth the effort! On the road north from Wellington, heading for New Plymouth. Peeks at some west coast beaches.
Things that stood out: Dark, grey sand beaches. Powerful, but dirty looking surf. Pink flowers on hillsides - a nice change from yellow gorse! A detectorist (person who uses a metal detector) on the beach. A big ole friendly yellow dog that owned one area. After a big food court lunch in downtown Wellington we tried to wear off some calories walking around our Petone neighborhood waterfront. Cool & very windy - especially out on the wharf - but still nothing to compare to our home-town Ogden Point wind-chills!
I can tell by the number of pictures taken that I was impressed with the white-on-white Petone Settlers Museum with the front of a boat sticking out into traffic! This (Part 3 ) completes my selection from among over 450 photos taken on this day. Time to move on! We chose to stay outside of Wellington in the commuting community of Petone. After driving a bit downtown yesterday afternoon, I was really glad we did. So, busing in the rain to start today. There is a train, but is was out of service, so I had a window seat for the 45 minute ride.
Got off the bus at Courtenay Place and immediately took a picture of the stop across the street (you know, just in case I needed a reference for where to catch the bus home!).
Highlights: Cuba street. Maori pedestrian wait/walk light images. Old Bank Shopping Arcade with ship found onsite during construction. Lunch at Capital Market International Food Court. Buildings. Outdoor art. Bus home had high-tech digital displays of each stop along the way. Slow start to a road day. First stop was at the weekly Napier Sunday Market - small, but a few pastries to sample.
After reading the motel tsunami & earthquake instructions we drove downtown & parked close to the weekly market. Second breakfast from the Bacon Sandwich stall. Olive oil vendor is a graduate of the University of Alberta, Edmonton (my alma mater!). It's a small world, and as we travel I think it is still shrinking.
Napier! Art Deco buildings! Stained Glass! Building murals! Big outdoor art! Napier is a very pretty, artful city! A close neighbor to Napier, Hastings is also a very arty art deco place to experience. The street lamps & stained glass store fronts kept getting in front of my camera & demanded to be photographed! There was a small town feel of quiet as shops closed for Saturday afternoon, but we managed to find a great little place for lunch. (How DO we do that?!?) Driving back to Napier from Hastings, we stopped to check out the pebble beaches in-between. Quick decision to go find the Napier botanic gardens. Pleasant couple of hours wandering about. Quail. Cemetery (pre-1918). Back the beach by our motel, and the big Rusty Thing I first saw 5 years ago. |
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March 2024
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