December 20th: Mt Taranaki and Wellington |
Journal Entry:
New Plymouth and Mt. Taranaki
That morning we got to actually explore New Plymouth and Mt. Taranaki. We started with a walk along the wharf and over the museum and the Len Lye Art Museum. The trip to the mountain was mostly in land, and highly forested, but followed rivers and was covered in vegetation. Still it was extremely flat, covered in farm land, and was very beautiful. The mountain itself was grand and despite the spring runoff, snow still existed on the top. Because I had just recently gotten surgery I wasn't able to scale to the far top but there was a platform at the base of the hiking trail. I hope I'll be able to climb it eventually. Once at the top the wind was insane and the forestry was dense so we opted not to hike it. |
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Taranaki to Wellington - Basically the whole day's travel.
After a few hours on the mountain we climbed back down and started on our way to Wellington which was largely uneventful. The land was flat, covered in farm land, included a few wineries and was kind of brown for the first time.
About 2 hours out of Wellington (5 hours of driving) The mountain tops to the west began to meet us at the horn of the south peninsula on the north island and the ocean peaked out briefly a few times. Then in the last hour it was as mountainous as the Rockies, but just as green as Oregon. The houses were creative and built onto the hills in highly creative fashions. I don’t doubt there are some rather affluent architects.
By the time we made it to Wellington we had already set up an Airbnb with another man living in Johnsonville (about 20 minutes north of Wellington). His place was on the top of a hill built into wellington. Brian was a very reserved man and was rather introverted, but still very pleasant to speak with. His two layer floor plan was a really nice design that was similar to the one we have now, but it was very small and modest.
After a few hours on the mountain we climbed back down and started on our way to Wellington which was largely uneventful. The land was flat, covered in farm land, included a few wineries and was kind of brown for the first time.
About 2 hours out of Wellington (5 hours of driving) The mountain tops to the west began to meet us at the horn of the south peninsula on the north island and the ocean peaked out briefly a few times. Then in the last hour it was as mountainous as the Rockies, but just as green as Oregon. The houses were creative and built onto the hills in highly creative fashions. I don’t doubt there are some rather affluent architects.
By the time we made it to Wellington we had already set up an Airbnb with another man living in Johnsonville (about 20 minutes north of Wellington). His place was on the top of a hill built into wellington. Brian was a very reserved man and was rather introverted, but still very pleasant to speak with. His two layer floor plan was a really nice design that was similar to the one we have now, but it was very small and modest.