Hello New Plymouth

We recently visited New Plymouth out on the west coast of the north island.  Home of Mt. Taranaki, we were able to pay the iconic conical volcano and go for a hike through a particularly beautiful forest.

It was east to see why the place was so green, what with all the clouds and rain.

Fortunately during our visit to the clouds kept their rain and simply resorted to hiding the peak for most of our visit

one word...lush

Working on my magazine cover pose, going for playful yet reflective

Heading out of town to the south next to Port Taranaki is Paritutu Rock. 

The trip up the rock starts with nice wooden steps with railings but quickly becomes a chain and notches worn in solid rock.  

An adventure going up and a few grey hairs coming down gave us quite the view.

Staglands stop over

Callie and I have used the Entertainment book to explore Wellington's many dining establishments, Friday night adventures and fun trips about town.  We recently visited the Staglands Wildlife reserve in Upper Hutt.  Once cashing in our coupon and picking up a bag of kibble to feed all the animals in the park we received a very enthusiastic greeting.

Oddly enough, peacocks seemed to be the pigeons of Staglands with another group of them around every corner.  None of other ones in the park quite felt like putting on the show as impressive as this fella though.

Baby ducks, always adorable.

Not sure why, but these ducks reminded me of Halloween.  Probably because of their bright orange eyes, but something else about them seemed...spooky.

These good looking creatures are Kune Kune Pigs.   Brought back from the edge of extinction but a couple of Christchurch folks, there are now thousands around the world.

 

This guy was more than happy to perform his talent "Eat a treat" if we were willing to provide the treat.

One of the little ladies hanging around.  We managed to get some treats to the other little ones when Poppa Pig wasn't looking.

The newest additions to the Kune Kune family keeping warm in a no holds barred cuddle-fest.

The mother had perfected the best trick of the park.  Couldn't resist throwing a good portion of our kibble her way, she didn't complain too much either.

 That'll do Donkey, that'll do.

 This little cutie looked to have pulled lawn-mower duty.  Callie was able to distract it for a quick heart to heart.

After reassurance from Callie that this Merino was a professional who was not going to take my fingers off, I got to share some kibble with the worlds most prized wool machine.  Not too bad at making horns either.

This kid was hard a work bouncing around the place playing with the little kids, snagging some snacks and playing "Hide in the rusty farm equipment".  Such hard work of course tuckered the little one out, pretty good for being about a week old.

I am not sure if we arrived at nap time or if the peacocks are just that intimidating, but there were several bunnies like the one below lounging about.  No amount of kibble could coax a hop.

Clear on her way to a fancy Ball this chicken was clearly not going to be under-dressed for the occasion.

Staglands ended up being a very fun visit.  It was a large petting zoo where you could interact with most of the animals and since so many of them were New Zealand natives made the visit all the more meaningful.

Getting out of town without driving

The Wellington harbour hosts many beautiful views, bays, little mountains and islands.  Callie and I finally found a weekend to duck off and enjoy one of these little paradises that we had been looking at for over a year.

As it turns out Matiu/Somes island located in Wellington harbour allows for a few campers to stay overnight every day so we packed a bag, packed some camp food and hopped on the little ferry heading out to the tiny bump of land poking out from the sea.  Arrival at the island starts with a thorough pack and bag check at the Rat House and an introduction to the island's history by the care takers.  Callie received the clean tent award from the ranger.  They're actually looking for dirt, seeds, or vermin - not illegal substances.  The island has served as a home to the Maori, as an animal quarantine station and is now a historic reserve.

Our camp ground was located in one of the paddocks on top of the island.  We were in a good neighbourhood with a couple of ducks and a herd of sheep next door.  The island has a track around its crown that is the main attraction which can be walked leisurely in about an hour.  Along the way we saw Red-Crowned Parakeets, Skinks and Weta.

I also spotted my favorite, the rare Wellington Wilhoit

The coast around the island is quite beautiful with lots of rocky beaches and little coves.  The beach is protected as nesting grounds for the various birds of the island including Little Blue Penguins.

The island closes to visitors at 5pm. Those staying on the island can continue to wander around seeing the sights.  We were then off around the island for a night walk which definitely paid off.  A beautiful view of the coolest little capital in the world lit up at night was just the start.  Further around the track we came across some of New Zealand's infamous little blue penguins that had climbed up the steep cliffs for a good nights sleep.  We stood there for the better part of half an hour watching them about five feet away as they looked around trying to find us all while chatting with the other little penguins getting ready to make their own nests for the night.

After a good nights camp and another ferry ride back to civilization we returned home having seen a bit more of what the neighbourhood has to offer.