Taranaki Trip (Part 1)

Last month, we had a holiday in Taranaki, from 12 to 19 November. We spent three days in New Plymouth where we did quite a lot of biking, and three days in Eltham, where we did bike a little but did mostly other activities.

On the way to New Plymouth, we decided to take the Surf Highway route, rather than the somewhat more direct road around the eastern side of “the mountain” – Mt Taranaki/Egmont. The coastal route is more scenic, and besides it was sunny on this side, and cloudy on the other.

We turned off the main road at Opunake and went down to the beach. There are some spectacular cliffs there that clearly show the layers of Mt Taranaki’s volcanic eruptions over time.

These layers were caused by successive volcanic eruptions

 

A close-up of the layers (photo by John)

The beach was empty apart from these people fishing (photo by John)

As we got closer to New Plymouth, the cloud over Mt Taranaki mostly cleared, and by late afternoon, we had a great view on the peak from our “Urban Bach” where we have stayed a couple of times before.

Mt Taranaki shows its peak (photo by John)

 

Day 2 – Coastal and Mangati Walkways

First off we wanted to bike along the Coastal Walkway. This is a wonderful, smooth, flat, wide path along the New Plymouth foreshore and beyond. We have biked this once before, in the pouring rain, early on in our re-start biking experience. 

We parked the car near the port area, and headed off towards the Coastal Walkway.

The start of the Coastal Walkway – Paritutu in the background on the right (photo by John)

It was a bit overcast and windy to begin with – quite cold actually – but the day gradually improved. The track seemed “shorter” than last time, but presumably that must just be because we were riding e-bikes this time. When we got to the Rewa Rewa bridge, we took some photos, but the mountain was all shrouded in cloud.

Te Rewa Rewa Bridge is reminiscent of both a breaking wave and a whale skeleton (photo by John)

We carried on towards Bell Block, right to the end, then turned around and continued further up the Coastal Walkway. We arrived at the Taranaki Cycle Park, where there is a velodrome. We biked around the rim of the velodrome, but didn’t try the gate into it as we weren’t sure if that was OK. We should have checked the sign – it would have been fun to bike around it. Instead we biked down a track that went around the whole park – very smooth and nice riding.

Taranaki Cycle Park

We biked around the rim of the velodrome (photo by John)

There was also a junior mini road circuit, complete with traffic lights, roundabouts, and an obstacle course. We met a young boy who was charging around on his little bike. Totally confident and pretty skillful. We chatted with his Dad, and asked if it was OK to take a picture of him.

Young Kayde, aged very nearly five, was quite happy to pose for us

We followed the walkway till the very end. There we stopped to look at some cliffs, and John pointed in the distance and said “that will be Waitara over there, I used to bike there every day (20 km each way) to work at the freezing works during the summer holidays”.

Looking towards Waitara (photo by John)

After lunch at the White Pear Café in the Parklands shopping centre, we went back to the Coastal Walkway, and made a side trip onto the Mangati Walkway – very pretty, along a stream with several little red bridges leading to other streets.

The Mangati Walkway

Cabbage trees in full flower (photo by John)

The walkway can be accessed via pretty bridges across the Mangati Stream (photo by John)

The walkway ended at De Havilland Drive which we explored a bit, as it was near the original airport where John’s father used to work as an aircraft engineer. Nearby, I spotted a NZ Cycle Trail sign  saying "Taumarunui 170 km". 

Only 170 km to Taumarunui – no, I don’t think we’ll do that today …

We went back to the track and made our way back to the Coastal walkway, diverting near the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge, to ride to Lake Rotomanu, a small pretty lake surrounded by beautiful trees. And near the bridge over the Te Henui Stream, I spotted a huge, magnificent pohutukawa tree, that I could not resist taking a photo of.

Lake Rotomanu (photo by John)

A magnificent pohutukawa tree

We headed back towards the car, but that was not the end of our ride, because John wanted to have a browse around Moturoa, the area where he spent much of his childhood.

We crossed the railway line and biked up to Peace Avenue, where we took photos of their former house. John wanted to re-live his boyhood, when he and his mates would take turns careering down the street in a soapbox trolley, so he coasted down the road a few times on his bike. He remembers with glee the screeching noise the steel lawnmower wheels made as he stopped by making the trolley skid sideways. He says that none of the neighbours ever complained about the noise.

The house in Peace Avenue

Coasting down the street – no screeching steel wheels this time!

We went down to Ngamotu beach where Mrs Mac from next door would frequently take John and his sister for a swim.

Ngamotu Beach

There were four or five “nodding donkey” oil wells operating in Moturoa when John was young.
Only a couple of non-operating ones are left now (photo by John) 

John used to mow the lawn for a man who was very particular about how his lawn looked. However, when some of the wells were closed down, an oil seep turned up on his lawn, spoiling the effect.

After a good look around John's old neighbourhood, we finally headed back to our cottage, were we were delighted to see “the mountain” without cloud cover.

A clear view of Mt Taranaki (photo by John)

Day 3 – More New Plymouth pathways

Today we biked from our cottage, leaving the car “at home”. We headed off down Tukapa Street, and by meandering around various streets, we joined the Mangaotuku Walkway. Like many of the pathways, it follows a stream in one of the myriad gullies that are typical of the New Plymouth landscape, crosses roads and dives back into another bushy gully.

We biked from the cottage, leaving the car “at home” (photo by John)

One of the exits and re-entries into the Mangaotuku Walkway (photo by John)

Along the Mangaotuku Walkway (photo by John)

I must admit that my sense of direction is fairly useless, and the New Plymouth walkways network has me completely stumped. Of course John, having grown up in New Plymouth, sort of knows his way around, though the walkways are a new feature since those days. So I just happily follow wherever he leads me … But be warned – some of the place names I mention in this blog post may well be quite incorrect.

The plan for the day was to explore a couple more walkways, and since they started from the Coastal Walkway, that’s where we headed. But first, we stopped at Manou’s Café by the port, for coffee and muffins. This place is quirky and exuberant, with flags decorating the ceiling, a deck with a “drunken sailor” in a hammock, and sparrows that are incredibly bold, waiting for you to turn away so they can steal crumbs from your plate.

Manou’s Café (photo by John)

A “drunken sailor” kips in a hammock above the deck (photo by John)

“How dare you try to shoo me away!” (photo by John)

Along the Coastal Walkway we stopped to talk to a guy who was making stone stacks on the big rocks lining the path. He told me he did not use any adhesive – he just uses the small dimples and bumps in the stones to position and carefully balance them on top of each other. Quite astonishing. When we came back along there later in the day, he had made several wondrous sculptures in this way.

A day’s worth of stone stacks

Near the Wind Wand, we took a path that went under the road and railway line into the town centre and uphill towards the start of the Huatoki Walkway. Very pretty alongside a stream, and again, crossing roads and gullies and confusing me in a big way as to where we were.

On the Huatoki Walkway (photo by John)

A pretty little waterfall (photo by John)

At one of the road crossings, we biked down some streets, as John wanted to go to Brooklands Park to look at the 2000-year-old puriri tree. The tree was about 100 metres in from one of the entrances to Pukekura Park.

This puriri tree (Vitex lucens) is reputed to be 2000 years old (photo by John)

Looking up into its canopy

As cycling is not permitted in the park, we left and biked on in the streets. We found our way to the top end of the Te Henui Walkway, so we followed that. Very pretty also.

The Te Henui Stream (photo by John)

This track ended up back at the Coastal Walkway, right near a reserve where we found a place to have lunch – a container café called “Petit Paris” run by a French couple, where I was greeted with a cheerful “Bonjour Madame!”. We enjoyed our coffee and eats at one of the tables which dotted the lawn.

Café “Petit Paris” (photo by John)

Relaxing after lunch (photo by John)

After this, we biked back towards the city centre, to go back to the cottage, but first we had a look at the outside of the Len Lye Centre. The building, which was opened in July 2015, is very impressive – all shiny and curvy, giving amazing reflections of the White Hart Hotel opposite. A neat juxtaposition of the old and the very new.

The White Hart Hotel is reflected in the Len Lye façade (photo by John)

The White Hart Hotel (photo by John)

Reflection of the clock tower (photo by John)

NZ artist Len Lye (1901-1980) was a pioneer of experimental film and kinetic sculpture. The Wind Wand on the waterfront is one of his works. 

We went back to the cottage to leave the bikes and collect the car, and went back into town for a bit of a wander. Apart from shops – which really don’t excite me very much – we saw some interesting murals.

A gigantic tui (photo by John)

A mural in progress in a narrow lane between buildings (photo by John)

Two very different styles together (photo by John)

How about this for a bike? (photo by John)

Finally, we drove to the far end of town to have a look at Paritutu, the Sugar Loaf Islands, and Back Beach. The islands are the remains of an ancient extinct volcano crater.

Paritutu Rock (photo by John)

Three of the seven Sugar Loaf Islands. You can walk across when the tide is out (photo by John)

Back Beach is a great surfing beach (photo by John)

 

New Plymouth Coastal Walkway - 19 June

Last week we had a short holiday to visit our daughter and grandchildren in Auckland. We decided to make a detour via New Plymouth, so that we could ride the Coastal Walkway. This is an 11km stretch of wide, smooth concrete path along the waterfront, specially designed for walkers and cyclists. At the city end it runs along the top of a seawall, made up of large boulders. Further north, it skirts beaches, sand hills and farmland.

The seawall is made of large boulders (photo by John)

We had enjoyed walking much of this walkway on previous visits to New Plymouth, and thought it would be great to cycle along it. We needed just one day to cycle the track, so booked two nights in “The Urban Bach”, a delightful cottage, where we had stayed before, and which I can heartily recommend. 

I had been watching the weather forecasts all week, hoping that the heavy rain storms due to come in from the south, were not going to eventuate. We left Wellington in the pouring rain, but by the time we got to New Plymouth, in the late afternoon, it was almost fine. However, the nasty stuff returned overnight, and we woke to torrential rain. Fortunately by 11am, it had abated to intermittent showers, so we decided to brave the wet, and go riding anyway.

We parked near the port breakwater, right at the south-western end of the coastal track. As we were getting ready, a jogger coming off the track to return to his car warned us that there was a seal on the rocks by the swimming pool. He said it had given him "a hell of a fright", so we should watch out for it.

Getting the bikes ready for our ride

The track is super-smooth concrete – a pleasure to ride on. It is wide enough for walkers and cyclists to share, though today there weren’t many of either about. Despite the weather and dark-ish skies John took a lot of pictures.

The path is super-smooth. Len Lye's Wind Wand is on the right (photo by John)

Even with the jogger’s warning to be on the look-out for the seal, it took John completely by surprise. As we came round a corner near the swimming pool, it suddenly reared up, lunged at John as he was cycling past, and barked at him. John hadn’t seen it at all, so completely did it blend into the rocks. The boulders are dark brown and black and quite rounded – perfect camouflage for a fat, dark brown seal.

The seal is perfectly camouflaged among the rocks (photo by John)

I was behind John, so I saw the seal wriggling back down, and steered well clear of it on the far side of the track. Of course John parked his bike, and cautiously went back to take a picture of it. Seals can be quite nasty, so you don’t want to get up too close.

When we got close to the Wind Wand, it started to rain quite hard. John went down the ramp that leads to the underpass under the main road to cross towards Puke Ariki (New Plymouth's museum and library complex). I didn’t know why he went there, because the track continued across a bridge over a small stream. But it turned out that he just wanted to shelter under the bridge. I figured it was only water and we were wet already, so I carried on. He soon followed me.

It really wasn’t too bad, as there was no wind, and it was not cold. The track went along in front of a cliff face with beautiful sculptural textures. Sandstone, probably of volcanic origin, shaped by the wind and the water.

Sculptural textures on the cliff face (photo by John)

Past the Te Henui Stream, over the bridge towards the surf beach. Last summer there was a coffee-and-icecream caravan here, and a quirky row of old, but wonderfully comfortable, armchairs. No armchairs there now, of course, and no coffee caravan either.

In summer, there are comfy armchairs in which to enjoy a rest, a coffee and a gaze out to sea
(photo by John, November 2012)

On past the East End Surf Life Saving Club. When we got to the Fitzroy motorcamp, I stopped under a canopy to put my hood on under my helmet, as the rain was dripping into the slits in my helmet.

After the motorcamp, the track wound through the sand dunes – not much sand, but lots of flax and shrubs – very pretty. A few ups and downs, nothing I couldn’t cope with. Even so, my thigh muscles do find it very hard to go up any kind of slope, even a very gentle one. Maybe I should do some quad-strengthening exercises …

A wet, wriggly path in the sand dunes

Before long we saw the stunningly beautiful Te Rewa Rewa bridge across the Waiwhakaiho River. This is an award-winning bridge, built specially for the walkway, to connect New Plymouth with the town of Bell Block.

A little bridge, leading to the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge, in the distance (photo by John)

Its design is reminiscent both of an unfurling wave, and a whale skeleton. It is angled in such a way that on a cloudless day, you can see Mt Taranaki framed by its curving ribs.

John cycling on the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge

On a clear day, the bridge frames Mt Taranaki to perfection (photo by John, November 2012)

The rain had stopped by this stage, and of course we took photos, but Mt Taranaki was shrouded in clouds and mist. However, even on a dull day, the bridge makes an impressive statement.

View from the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge

We crossed the bridge and carried on along the track towards Bell Block. Through rolling paddocks, behind the sand dunes.Then along on a boardwalk amongst the flax, and to a look-out from where we could see the wide beach, and the sweep of the coast towards the city. It would have been nice to sit here and have a snack, but the seat was rather wet.

A nice place for a rest, but rather wet

The coastline towards the city, with Paritutu Rock and the Sugar Loaf Islands
(photo by John)

 
Then the track turned inland towards Bell Block, and we had to go up and down some rises, which I didn’t much like. I had to get off and walk a few times. A major hump turned out to be a bridge over an underpass for cows on their way to the milking shed. From the top, we could see the suburban houses, and also a small herd of cows. I was happy to turn around right here, but John wanted to take a closer look at the cows. They were actually heifers, I think – young animals anyway. The paddocks on each side of the track were very soggy indeed and there were quite a few puddles on the track too.

Cattle, soggy paddocks and large puddles (photo by John)

 

View towards the sea from the top of the hump

The sky kept changing from dark clouds, to actually showing some blue sky dotted with big white clouds, and back to threatening rain.

Changeable skies and threatening rain (photo by John)

On the return trip, after crossing the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge again, we deviated from the walkway to ride halfway around Lake Rotomanu, a small lake surrounded by beautiful trees and lovely picnic spots. We saw a gaggle of ducks and geese, all gathered together on the grass.

Lake Rotomanu (photo by John)

The jetty at Lake Rotomanu (photo by John)

A gathering of ducks and geese, and even a stray chook (photo by John)

Further along, back on the track, we stopped for a snack near the Surf Club, as it was sunny by now, but as soon as we sat down, we were targeted by the local sandfly population, so we hurriedly got back on the bikes. NZ sandflies are very small, but have quite a nasty bite, and they are very sneaky, as you don’t notice them until it’s too late.

The Māori legend about sandflies tells us that "the god Tu-te-raki-whanoa had just finished creating the landscape of Fiordland, it was absolutely stunning... so stunning that it stopped people from working. They just stood around gazing at the beauty instead. The goddess Hinenuitepo became angry at these unproductive people, so she created the sandfly to bite them and get them moving". It sure worked for us!

Near the Te Henui Stream bridge, another walkway goes inland, following the stream. We decided to see how far it would be possible to bike it.

The Te Henui Stream (photo by John)

To begin with, it was a smooth sealed path, which soon became a gravel track. It is a very pretty area – the stream, much fuller and swifter than it was back in November, a lot of beautiful trees, camellias starting to flower, and lots of tree ferns. We played tag with a woman walking her dog – we would pass her, but every time John stopped to take a photo, she would overtake us again. He takes his time with his photos, carefully framing each shot, making sure each is a pleasing composition.

Beautiful trees along the Te Henui Stream track (photo by John)

We rode about a kilometer before the path went over a little bridge, and then deteriorated to a muddy grass track, so we turned around. Suddenly the rain came down in buckets, but I was not game to shelter under one of the road bridges, as there was too much evidence of pigeons residing there. I would rather be rained on than “plopped” on by pigeons.

During heavy rain, water from the road above drains into the stream through a hole in the bridge (photo by John)

As we went past the cliffs again, I noticed that there was a gate, which could be swung across the track when the weather, wind or waves made it too hazardous for people to go there. I noticed too, that the noise of the waves rolling in was louder than it had been earlier in the day. The tide was coming in. On the top of the cliff, a house with a tower grabbed our attention. I would love a house with a tower. So romantic! And what a great view it must have.

If I were ever to move to New Plymouth, I'd want to live in the house with the tower (photo by John)

By the time we got back to the beginning of the Coastal Walkway, it had fined up again, and we thought we would ride to the end of the breakwater while the going was good. The surface was sealed but very uneven, and it was the hardest part of the day’s riding because the lumpy-bumpyness hurt my hands.

The surface on the breakwater was very uneven (photo by John)

The port and Paritutu Rock, seen from the breakwater (photo by John)

Then John decided we should bike to the end of the road to the port. We rode along the road for some distance, then onto a pretty little path among old pohutukawas. In the bark chips under the trees, I saw lots of strange white shapes – rather like tennis balls with bits cut out of them – which I suspect were mushrooms. Unfortunately I didn’t get a close look at them because as we got to the end of the path, it started to spit, and by the time we got back to the car, it was teeming and we were thoroughly drenched.

Pohutukawas

We put the bikes away in the car, and went to have a rather late lunch at the “Bach on Breakwater” nearby. We had ridden 29 kms in nearly three hours. The variable weather had made it really rather interesting. Still a very enjoyable ride. The bonus of the poor weather was that we did not have to share the track with anyone. It would be a very different experience at the height of summer, with walkers, families, tourists and cyclists, even “crocodile bikes”, all out enjoying the walkway and the sights. But it would be fun to ride the track in the sunshine, so we will definitely be back.

Twin bikes on the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge