Taranaki Touring. Part 2

Day two of our adventure away started with a somewhat unplanned walk. We had decided to check out a lake that was on the way to where we were heading that day. When we got there we found out it was a fully fenced reserve with double electric gates and huge pest proof fences, I forgot to take photos but it was pretty surreal having to drive through.
Once we were in we had a mooch at the info boards and then decided to go for a 10 minute walk along the lake trail but once we started we figured we may as well carry on and it took us an hour to complete the circuit. It was a nice walk through native bush with plenty of bird song and the sound of ducks on the water. There were no mammals to see though as New Zealand has no native land based animals.

Being so close to the mountain meant that we had to go check it out, unfortunately the weather wasn't the best so I couldn't get any great pictures but it was still a nice drive. We drove up to one of the car parks and then took a short 20 minute walk to Dawson Falls which was very pretty and we met a nice family at the base who took our pictures for us and we returned the favour. I still get surprised about how friendly New Zealand people are sometimes.

To finish off the day we did a tour around the coastline, the highlight of which was seeing the Cape Egmont lighthouse.

The next day we went into the town of New Plymouth for a look around. The first place we explored was Pukekura park which has lots of pretty pathways with visual features such as a nice bridge, a little waterfall and large old trees. We walked the length of the park until we got to the little free zoo that they have. It's mostly farm animals but I'm always happy with that. They also had some exotic birds, meercats, otters and monkeys. We took a walk along the coastal pathway as well although we didn't really enjoy it as there was a lot of bike traffic but none of them had bells so it felt like we were constantly watching our backs trying not to get run over by bikes. It was pleasant scenery though and on the way back we stumbled across a Truck gathering. It was pretty cool, I've never seen so many big rigs all in one place. I think the best one though was a child size one that the kids could climb into the trailer of to get a ride around the fair. Very cute

When we got back to the farm that night we fed all the animals and then took the quad out for a ride. We followed the tracks for quite a long way and found a whole heap of mushrooms on the way. It was all quite exciting in a novel kind of way since neither of us had been on a quad for awhile and I always love collecting mushrooms.

Merry Second Xmas!

So if you hadn't already realised that I'm a bit odd it may come as a surprise that my family is rather odd too. My father and sister live in England while my Mum and I live in New Zealand so every so often we visit each other and this year is Dad's turn to visit us here in NZ. Since the post is so expensive we don't really send gifts to each other very often and if we do they are usually small. When we travel however all bets are off and we carry whatever will fit in a suitcase to give to each other. This meant that we knew Dad would be arriving with quite a few gifts for us which are always labeled as 'belated bday/christmas' presents so we decided why not have a little christmas to celebrate his arrival and enjoy our gifts.
We set the date for the Saturday after Dad arrived so that he could have a few days to settle in and wrap gifts before the big day! We had bought a few little things and put them under the tree ready and when Saturday rolled around we had quite a haul to open.

I got books! 9 Terry Pratchetts and a recipe book written by Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall and 4 dvds of his too. My sister drew me an A4 picture which I love and also gave me a new duvet set which has deer on it. I haven't set it up yet but when I do I'll be sure to include a photo. I got a few other little bits and bobs too but I won't bore you.
After all our present opening we went into town to check out the market where I bought a cornish pasty for breakfast. I've been eyeing them up for the last 3 years but since they never advertise the price I've never actually bought one. I decided though that since it was xmas I could treat myself but cripes I got a shock when she told me the price. $6! For a pasty! It was nice but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped, the price was a bit of a sting. Oh well at least now I have tried one and won't need to try one again.

While we were in town we thought it'd be nice to pop along to one of the local schools as it was having a gala that had promised to be quite big. They had advertised a spinning Jenny which I had never heard of and since we share a name I wanted to see what it was and how it worked. As it turns out you 'buy' a paddle with a number on it and then the guy spins the wheel and if your number wins then you get the prize pack. I bought a paddle just to say that I've given it a go and of course I lost. I never seem to do very well with anything that involves luck but I don't have high expectations so it's never much of a let down.

For dinner I had planned a rather ridiculous fancy menu but eventually cut it down to just fish dinner and cake. The cake I made myself, vanilla cake with lemon butter icing and decorated with malteasers and chocolate fingers. It was pretty good if I do say so myself.
The fish was the snapper that my cousin gave me a while ago, baked whole with lemon, butter and herbs. It was a rather simple dinner but nice none the less and a good way to round out the day.