On the Road: The West Coast

After Wanganui, we proceeded up the western coast of the North Island, an area that is far less visited by tourists, at least non-Kiwis. It is sparsely populated and consists mainly of dairy farms in the interior and small beach towns along the coast.

The area is somewhat circular in shape, following the outline of its most famous attraction, Mount Taranaki (or Mt. Egmont, if you prefer), which we are told is a snow-covered dormant volcano. However, as it was continuously engulfed in clouds, we never actually observed the top. This is as much of a view as we ever got. A hike to Dawson Falls (below) on its slopes was a bit disappointing.

However, the coastline had its own rugged beauty, and unusual black sand, the color attributable to the high level of iron (which, I'm told, would cause the sand to be picked up by a magnet).

The beaches have no shells but are littered with driftwood, the product of storms blowing in off the Tasman Sea.

We traveled through a number of small towns, which typically consist of a main street lined by a stately-looking bank, small stores and cafes, often either Art Deco in style (for the larger and more prosperous towns) or resembling the American west, with arcades to shield pedestrians from the strong sun and rain. Of course, many little shops reflect their trades and are somewhat whimsical in appearance.

But the real surprise in these towns was the presence of the sport of lawn bowling, with participants clad in the traditional white garb. It is very popular, especially with older Kiwis (women as well as men), and is reported on regularly in the sports pages of the newspaper.

The above was in New Plymouth, which was somewhat of a pilgrimage for David, as he is from (old) Plymouth. The principal center of the Taranaki region, New Plymouth is situated around the only deep-water port on the west coast. It features wonderful parks, gardens and "reserves"-- green walkways throughout the city that parallel streams or the coastline, and provide excellent opportunities for jogging, cycling or just meandering.
We concluded this phase of our trip in Raglan, which attracts visitors to its world-class surfing beaches (which we found rather stark). Our cycling guide had fond childhood memories of staying in the camper park there, which is now huge and filled with all sorts of camper vans/elaborate tents, outdoor gear and barbeques, although I imagine its denizens would have gotten soaked in the torrential thunderstorm that we experienced upon waking up.
On to Auckland....

(Posted by Joan on Feb. 6)