I arrived by Intercity yesterday and spent today exploring New Plymouth. I'm now on the "Surf Highway." The coast is very pretty, sunlit, and everytime you look inland you see Mt Taranaki, a beautfully symetrical dormant volcano. Today it's wearing a cap of cloud, but the weather is supposed to hold for the next few days, which means I will be off on a 2 night/3 day circuit ride.
I'm following the route listed in Lonely Planet's Riding in New Zealand book. The biggest problem will be the wind. It gets pretty blustery here, and no matter which way you ride, it's sure to get you somewhere. Lucky for me I'm one day ahead of a big bike race, around, you guessed it, Mt Taranaki. It's a one day affair, and runs on Saturday. By then I'll be riding from Opunake to Stratford. It's very likely I'll meet them all pounding up behind me. The women in the i-Site helped me book accomodation (it's very rural around Taranaki) and also set me up with a hut permit for the National Park. After riding the circuit, I plan to take a shuttle back to Egmont Village, and get dropped off to do an overnight hike. Not sure what I'll see, but will likely be pretty good.
I'm not familiar with this part of the North Island. I'm not alone. Most tourists don't come over here. You can sense New Plymouth is about to take off as the next "hot" destination. Lucky for me, I'm here on the rising tide. The hordes looking for something undiscovered (oxymoron in NZ) will come later. That's always a problem with "undiscovered" places.
Something else yet undiscovered is New Plymouth's brand new 12km Coastal Walkway, a shared walk/bike/blade path that runs along the shore. It's lovely. Usually concrete, some wooden board walk, some newly graveled sections, here and there dotted with New Zealand's "coastal cafes" which are basically outdoor cafes set up out of funkily decorated trailers. I had the most extraordinary iced coffee for $6 NZD at Big Wave Cafe, a fun place with tables made out of surfboards. I had to stop to investigate when I saw a row of 1950s era lounge chairs lined up alongside the bike path. The thing was basically overflowing with ice cream, sprinkled with chocolate and garnished with 2 chocolate coated marshmallow fish.
Gosh it was good. Big Wave happens to be listed in a flyer I got from the i-Site this am, called "Taranaki's Must Do Experiences" www.taranaki.info/visit, "your guide to Taranaki's 50 most umissable experiences, adventures and attractions, as voted by the locals." I was reading this flyer, and using it as a napkin to wipe off the ice cream that dribbled down my chin.
Unmissable indeed.
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