Heading north

We left Wellington on the Saturday after I arrived, when R&E had to leave their flat because the lease ran out. By the time we'd loaded the van with all our stuff it had gone midday, but we still planned to make it all the way to New Plymouth in one run.

Luckily the weather was good and the van behaved itself as we headed northwards, stopping just once in the small town of Mercer for a snack in a surprisingly nice bar - surprising, because it wouldn't have been out of place in London and yet here it was in the middle of rural NZ.

It was getting towards evening when we turned inland to head through Stratford with Taranaki on our left, enabling me to get some good shots of the mountain (there's one in the first post below). Shortly after that we reached New Plymouth and checked in at the holiday park, pitching the tent next to the van. The lady in the office told us that there were lights on in the town's park so we headed along the coast walk in the dark to try and see them, and get a bite to eat. But even though it was Saturday evening all the cafes and bars had stopped serving food by the time we eventually arrived, and we were all a bit tired and hungry. We ended up in Burger King and didn't see the lights!

The next morning we headed back into NP to meet a friend of mine, who gave us a tour of the town's main attraction, Pukekura Park:



We hired a boat and had a bit of a row, which was fun. The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting over a beer or two, very pleasantly!

Monday morning dawned bright, which was lucky because we were heading up Taranaki. There was just a small ring of cloud around the summit when we set off at about 9am, kitted out with everything needed for the day's climb.



Taranaki is not a mountain to be underestimated, and you're supposed to sign a Department of Conservation intentions book before heading out. We did, being about the eighth group off that morning. The first bit of the path was absolutely fine, with a steady climb upwards and some spectacular views across to the central mountains of Tongariro National Park.



Then it got steeper and steeper and worse and worse, with a huge long steep scree slope to negotiate followed by equally steep rocks. A lot of the time I was using my hands as well as my feet, and we slipped back every few steps losing some of the height we gained. Plus it was hot, despite the altitude. We'd been climbing for ages and were still not at the summit when the altitude got me, making me feel exhausted and breathless. After a rest and another attempt at continuing I gave up, much to my chagrin because I really wanted to make it to the top! Instead I gave my camera to R and he carried on, while E and I turned back to start the descent. This was actually worse than the ascent in some ways. We slipped and slid down the scree. I kept falling over and was covered in dust and grit with stones in my boots. It was really not fun, although R&E did enjoy the sliding! E and I waited near the bottom of the scree for R to come slipping down after his summit success, and we slowly made our way down the mountain.

Arriving back at the start some nine hours after we began the climb, we discovered that we were still the last group to have signed the intentions book despite several other parties coming up behind us. Crazy.

We got back to New Plymouth tired and dusty and starving. Fish and chips filled the hole and lying down in the tent helped with the tiredness, but a hot shower was the best thing of all!