New Plymouth August 2015 - Day 3

Time to go home. We had plenty of time, so decided to drive out of town a little way, to get a country photo of 'my' mountain.

But then, you know , there could be a better view a bit further along.

Perhaps just a little further round the mountain?

(Taken just before Mac got attacked by the sea = very wet shoes and trousers.)

The sign says it's open Mondays, but directly underneath said it was closed. Annoying.

More mountain. So much gorgeousness, so many photos.

And then - up the mountain a little way.

 The longest continuously operating power station in the country.

 Carrying on around the mountain - so perfectly Taranaki.

 It was a very long way home, and I was a little sad to leave, but..... nearly home:

New Plymouth August 2015 - Day 2

 Saturday morning we decided to do the coastal walkway. Simon and Rebecca rode their bikes from the beginning somewhere south of the wind wand, to the other end and back, all in the time it took Mac and I to walk from most beautiful bridge in the world, to the wind wand.

We passed whitebaiters near the river mouth.

Another view of the bridge.

West coast beaches are my favourite.

 Somewhere along the way we met Simon and Rebecca and I tried riding Rebecca's bike. I hadn't forgotten how! When we got to the wind wand, we walked across the square to have lunch with Simon and Rebecca, and then they went back to the house, while Mac and I rode their bikes back to the bridge and our car. I think I want a bike now - it was fun, and after years of not being able to ride a bike sitting down, because of a painful strangeness in my left knee, I find it is cured!

We returned to the house and after a cuppa and a rest, we went to see the Tupare Gardens which were recommended by a friend of Mac. It was so beautiful and I'm keen to visit again in other seasons.

New Plymouth August 2015 - Day 1

In 1967 I started two years at New Plymouth Girls High School and the same two years at their boarding hostel, Scotlands. When I started there, I was in sixth form (Year 12) - the school at Te Kauwhata only went as far as fifth form. Although boarding school proved to be a lot less exciting than Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers books, I did enjoy my time there - it was a fresh start with nobody knowing me or my past mistakes. Most of all, I feel in love - with Mt Egmont, as it was then known. It has not changed, but I'm glad the name has, as Mt Taranaki seems so much more fitting.

More recently, we enjoyed visiting the Govett-Brewster Museum where an old flatmate of ours works, and we were keen to return to see the new Len Lye Centre. So we went down for a long weekend with Simon and Rebecca.

The building is gorgeous - and fun.

The surrounding buildings aren't new, but are pretty cool too.

After the exhibition we walked down to the grass square outside the museum to join the anti-TPP protest.

I doubt it did any good, but I feel I couldn't not stand against such an appalling thing.

August Reading

Fiction

Road Ends by Mary Lawson

A friend reviewed this book at my monthly Book Club. She said it has a lovely cover, was very well written, but that it was dreadfully depressing, being about multi-generational dysfunctional families. I would agree with all of that except the 'depressing' part. I really enjoyed the book, despite the dismal aspects, because it was also about people struggling through the mire of dysfunction, and despite some very sad bits, by the end most of the people were starting to find their ways to move beyond. Not in a 'happy ever after' way, but more in a 'facing up to reality' and finding ways to live life better way. I'll be looking for her other books for sure.

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Brilliant writer - except I couldn't finish it. It's the story of her grief after her father's death and her training of a goshawk, mixed with the story of T.H.White, author of The Once and Future King, who had also owned and trained a goshawk. As I said, beautifully written, but I don't find reading about either falconry or grief uplifting.

Paihia July 2015 - Day 4

Time to head home. But first it was time to return one last time to the wonderful Ngawha Hot Springs. We'd been every night except Saturday night, and  so we decided to go back before coming home. These hot pools are pretty primitive. There's no worry about people getting meningitis from putting their heads under - nobody would even think of doing so. But despite the colour of the water they were wonderful. Actually, the colour of the water is because of the minerals, which are, in turn, why they are so effective at healing. It was sad to leave them behind - there is nothing like it near us, since the Waingaro pools closed.

 The white, cold pool - only Heidi was brave enough, though Steven got in to about his knees.

 Mac in the pool in the foreground, Steve and Heidi in the pool behaind him.

It was so nice to have a winter break away we decided to do it again - New Plymouth in August!