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Today is not New Plymouth at its loveliest. It is a cold 48 degrees with rain and 20+ mile an hour winds. However, we have had some lovely days recently to explore the area, so it’s probably good that we have a weather-induced reason to play catch-up on our notes.

So what have we been up to since last we connected? We’ve been trying to see as much of the Taranaki region as possible and take in some local activities. Since we have been out-of-touch for so long, I will cover these in 2 blogs so that you can skim each in a decent amount of time.

We have continued to explore both New Plymouth and smaller towns in the Taranaki region. We are always interested in trying to get a clear shot of the finicky Mount Taranaki but are still awaiting the perfect photo.

In New Plymouth, we have continued walking the town and doing local tramps. One day we drove to Barrett Domain, a local park/lagoon area, for a lovely short tramp through the bush/wetland to the lagoon and obtained one of our better shots of the mountain. We then walked the 2+ miles through town and down a country road to the Ratapihipihi (so glad no one makes you pronounce these names to enter!) Reserve. We passed a llama farm on the way there, and they allowed us to photograph them as we left. The path at the reserve was well maintained and marked, so it was a nice easy tramp before we walked back to the car.

Closest to our “home” we have wandered through the Te Henui Cemetary, and a beautiful, nationally-recognized garden (Te Kainga Marire) that is on the grounds of a local residence. We met the owner of the property and garden yesterday on our visit. She showed us around a bit and let us take a mandarin from one of her trees. The grounds are gorgeous — lots of native ferns, trees, flora, a fun little tunnel that you can walk through as well as a working vegetable and fruit garden. Both the cemetary and garden are maybe 10 minutes or so from the house we are staying in and are accessible via the Te Henui walkway that we are on everyday as we walk the dogs.

Yesterday we also visited the TSB Bowls Museum which is a museum dedicated to the sport of lawn bowling. While we learned a bit about the history of the game and got to see some trophies, uniforms, and balls, it wasn’t set up to teach you about the game so we’re still in the dark about rules, etc. We need to stop in one of the many bowling clubs around and talk to a local.

Our out-of-town excursions have taken us to two smaller towns in the area — Eltham (population @ 2,000) and Inglewood (population @ 3,200). Eltham is known for its vintage stores, an art gallery, a cheese shop (awesome cheese!), and an arty loo (yes, a decorated public restroom). It was a bit cold and windy that day, so we spent our time popping in and out of each of the places listed above (including the public restroom). I (Beth) got a great wool sweater at a consignment store for $2 NZ or @ $1.30 USD!, and we purchased a lovely blue cheese and an herbed brie at the cheese store. Also spoke with a lot of nice merchants in the art gallery and stores as it was a slow retail day for them.

We had a more active day a couple of days ago in Inglewood. Here we visited a local toy museum, did a 4.5K walk outside of town, and stopped in at a local cafe. The toy museum is dedicated to the history of Fun Ho toys. This was a New Zealand-based company that started in Wellington before moving to Inglewood and was focused on making toy versions of NZ type vehicles, first molded from lead and then sand.

(“Fun” fact about Inglewood and this museum: The prior week, when we had originally planned to go to Inglewood, we heard on the evening news that the toy museum had received a bomb threat. The museum and much of the downtown area were then evacuated until the museum could be searched and confirmed safe! We asked the worker at the museum about this, and it appears that it was a prank call — from overseas somewhere.)

Bob and I have taken advantage of the rain-free (or almost) last few days to see more of New Plymouth and the greater Taranaki area. In all of our outings, Bob and I continue to be impressed with the diversity of the trees and flowers and how many amazing parks and natural areas we are able to explore for free — no entry fees!

We have continued to do in-town hikes but have also started venturing further afield.  In town, we explored the furthest end of the Coastal Walkway in the Bell Block region of New Plymouth, along with the adjacent walkway that follows the Mangati stream (This place is crazy with streams!).  We also did a 2 mile walk through town to the Tupare Gardens to then hike/explore the 3 walks on that lovely property. The Tupare Gardens is the former home and gardens of the Russell Matthews family. The home is an English-style cottage and the lawn and terraced gardens flow down from street level to the home and pasture area which sit closer to the Waiwhakaiho River. Really impressive! The walk back from the gardens allowed us to check out another local reserve which we have subsequently taken advantage of for a good off-leash run for Baz and Jess.

We’ve put in a bit of car time as well to reach some of the more out-lying and out-of-town areas. Yesterday, we drove to Lake Mangamahoe for a circuit hike through the forest around the lake and an almost (darn those clouds!) spectacular view of Mount Taranaki before heading to the Pukeiti Gardens which will officially fully open again October 1 to see some of the large rhododendron and other trees that will be fully blooming in a few weeks. The drive itself was an adventure — lots of s curves and narrow bridges, but luckily very little traffic on a weekday in the early season.

We have even traveled about 25 miles out of New Plymouth to the little Shakespearean-inspired town of Stratford (population @ 9,000) to do their Heritage Walk around town, which identify sites of local historical significance, as well as the Carrington Walkway through King Edward Park and along the Patea River. I made Bob take my photo next to their bust of Shakespeare, and we noted many of the street names around town that are inspired by his plays (Elsinore, Cordelia, Regan, etc.). We also stayed (at my insistence) to watch the daily Romeo and Juliet-inspired performance of the Glocenspiel (bell tower) at 3:00 p.m.

We have even taken advantage of the local film festival which has just started to see the City of Gold documentary about the US film critic Jonathan Gold. Pretty good overview of his work and the breadth of different ethnic dining opportunities in Los Angeles. Apparently, there is more to the town than the Kardashians. . . Prior to the movie, we ate at the Arborio restaurant which had been recommended to us. It was lovely and located inside the same building as the Puke Ariki museum and information center.

Today is the 13th day of our 42-day dog/house sit here in New Plymouth, New Zealand. After which, we will have a few days before we pop “over the ditch” (local expression for travel between New Zealand and Australia) for our cat/house sit in Brisbane, Australia. The last few days have been a little rainy with periods of sunshine, but we have managed to get some walks in — both with the dogs and without.

Today, was projected to be sunny in the morning and a little wet in the afternoon, so we started the day by taking the dogs to a park called “The Groin.” And boy do I (Bob) want to same some witty stuff about that name, but I will hold my tongue. Despite the name, it is a great green space around Lake Rotomanu where Baz and Jess can run off-leash. They really seem to enjoy it.

After that we brought the dogs home and walked to “The Federal Store” for breakfast. It is a really nice cafe that serves breakfast and lunch. At first, I thought the female staff there had eye problems but it turns out they were just winking at me (seems to be happening a lot in NZ–just like the states). Beth is now doing a three hour run. She may run the New Plymouth half marathon on October 4, and I may amble the 5 or 10k course.

Yesterday (Thursday), we hiked the Waitara Heritage Trail — another trail listed in our “Taranaki Walker’s Guide” pamphlet. Waitara is a town just north of New Plymouth, so we drove there — managed to stay on the “right” (which is to say the left) side of the road! Of all the hikes (tramps) we have done so far, this was the least exciting. The trail was a 6km (3.75 mile) route around the city. Due to earlier flooding (we think), we could not find many of the points of interest listed on the guide. The route was not the prettiest, and the trail was very muddy in many parts.

On the way back to New Plymouth, we saw a sign for a winery and thought, why not? It was just 7km off the main road. Turns out it was a place that made wines (and gin) out of fruit rather than grapes–Sentry Hill Winery. The attendant working was very nice, and had some great stories to share — including an awesome Octoberfest trip that he took to Germany one time where he ended up buying multiple magnums of Dom Perignon for the Germans (he had to be reminded of this by a buddy after getting the credit card bill) because he felt sorry for them losing the war. Can’t imagine that conversation, but apparently all ended up having a good time! He also educated us on the feijoa fruit, originally from south Africa from which he makes one of his wines. We liked the gin best, so bought a bottle of that.

We go out to eat about once every three nights or so to places that we can walk to. We ended the day yesterday with a drink at Rig 66 and then dinner at Joe’s Garage. We ended up running into some friends of our homeowners downtown afterwards. Nice to know some locals!

On Wednesday, after a stroll down Devon Street (we have worn the sidewalk thin on this main street) to the TSB Showplace to buy tickets to the Taranaki Fashion Art Awards (more on that after the 9/12 show), we trekked the Huatoki Walkway trail. Again, another beautiful stream/river that has a trail beside it. It was lovely and a good 10km round trip hike. On the way back, we stopped at Pukekura Park for a bathroom break and a picnic lunch and ended up getting caught a bit in a quick deluge. Luckily, were close to an overhang where we could put our rain gear on to continue our walk back into town and then home.

Hey All! Instead of lamenting the cold, rainy weather that the onset of Spring has brought to New Plymouth (and much of the country), we have decided to share some of the things that we are enjoying here.

The Language — Expressions
While we all speak English, we appear to use our words and/or put our words together a bit differently. I’ve become partial to the more colorful way that the Kiwis use the language. Some examples:

• A Noter — someone who keeps up with the Joneses AND makes sure you know it.  (Bob and I have noted the Noters that we Know.)
• Mutton dressed as a Lamb — an older women dressed a bit young for her age
• It’s going to piss down for the next few days — It’ll be raining.
• Panelbeater — auto body repair worker
• Cabs off the rank — prioritized items
• Donkey’s years — a long time

More to come. . .

The Language — Pronunciations
Bob and I are completely aware that we are mispronouncing lots of the local names — Puke Ariki, Pukekuru, Te Henui, Te Rewa Rewa. However, what we didn’t realize is that we actually “mispronounce” just about every word we say because we haven’t yet (and probably won’t) master the local dialect. However, it’s all good. We have been able to make ourselves understood, and it makes listening to the news that much more interesting.

Sports, sports, sports — did we mention sports?
This is a sports mad country. Really!  I am convinced it is one of the reasons that their news is an hour long. Half of it is needed to cover (in depth) all of their sports.

• Biggest sports news has probably been the preparation for the World Rugby Cup which will begin in a couple of weeks in England. Not sure what the coverage is in the states, but I’m sure I would be unaware of it. The the final New Zealand team was announced yesterday, and it was (and will continue to be) big news.
• The International Darts Competition was just held in Auckland and received lots of coverage. I don’t know anything about professional darts but apparently fans like to attend these competitions in costume.
• Horse racing is big with lots of coverage in the papers about the various horses, odds, races, etc.  We’ve seen some local races.
• Net ball that we referenced earlier.  It is pretty common in commonwealth countries and is based on an early version of basketball.  You have to know how to pass, block, and shoot.  No dribbling allowed.  Each player wears a bib with their position on it, and the basket is on top of a pole that stands on the floor.  I believe it is mostly played by women.
• Cricket, croquet, yachting
• Coverage of results by Kiwis in all sports — olympic prep competitions, race car driving, golf, American football (a couple of Kiwis are vying for spots with the 49ers and Arizona Cardinals based on rugby conditioning — neither has played American football before but are doing pretty well), etc.

Bread
This place loves their bread!! Besides having a cafe or 2 on every corner with every naughty baked good (savory and sweet) available, every (and I do mean EVERY) restaurant has some type of bread as the first item (and maybe 2 or 3 of their items) listed under Entrees (which here means appetizers — “Mains” are what we consider Entrees).

Ice Cream
In addition to having to suffer through all the lovely bread options, we have landed in dairy country so have had some lovely ice cream selections as well. The Iona Dairy (Dairy being basically a convenience store that can serve ice cream as well) is known for their generous portions. We tried it the other day. They were not kidding!! A “small” cone was 2 ginormous scoops for about $1.80 USDollars each!! Luckily, we had done lots of walking beforehand and had another 1+ miles to go to get home. Eating the cone was itself a workout — but a lovely one!

Geography/scenery
See below for a selection of uniquely New Zealand photos.

The last few days have been clear and great for getting us out and about in New Plymouth. We have been leaving the house after exercising the dogs about 10ish every a.m. and getting back between 2:30 and 4:00 after a good walk about around town. Two of the last three days we have walked the two ends of the Coastal Walkway, and the third day we explored one of the larger parks in the area.

The Coastal Walkway is a sea-edge promenade that stretches almost the entire length of New Plymouth. It is great for walking, biking, running, skating, etc. and allows for great views of the sea in both urban and more natural environments. It is approximately 10k in length. The walkway is mostly concrete in the city areas but changes to wood, grass and/or gravel in some of the outer areas. It runs by a golf course, the city center, the port, a volcanic outcrop (big rock), and gorgeous beaches. It also showcases a great new bridge, public art, and various memorials along the route. Bob and I have walked it during the day, and I’ve also enjoyed running along it. It gets a lot of use by the locals as well.

At the end of our walk to the western-most end of the walkway, we climbed part of the way up Paritutu Rock but stopped when we had to start scrambling up and hanging onto chains bolted into the rock, as we didn’t have the right footwear and got some warnings from a guy coming down about the progressively more difficult climbing conditions further on. I was disappointed, but on the other side of the rock we had a lovely picnic lunch overlooking Back Beach (gorgeous!!!). We also found some different trails to walk back into town on that ran along a couple of streams.

On another day, we explored Pukekura Park which is 52 hectares (or 129 acres or 6,000 square feet). We went on a Thursday thinking that it would be quieter than during the weekend, but it was being well used by both school groups and other locals taking in the various sites. One large school group was having their elementary-aged kids run through the park and then finish with a lap around the large sports field they were gathered in. While we were walking in another area of the park, we saw intermediate school groups use their recess or gym time to run through the park as well. Pretty impressive! In addition to the many, many walking paths, the park has a fountain lake (which a young child showed us how to turn on), a tea house, various garden areas, a rhododendron dell, a fernery and display house, sculptures, an ampitheatre area for performances, and a small zoo.

The gorgeous days have allowed for some good off-leash opportunities for both dogs as well.

It is raining pretty good, as I write this, which makes for easy blogging (versus exploring) conditions, but we did get out earlier to catch a net ball game. More on that later.

After using Saturday to catch up on laundry and pick up information on the local area, we decided that a smart way to start our time here would be to begin learning more about the region. We have used Sunday and today to try to do that. On Sunday, we did a lovely self-guided walk of the New Plymouth Heritage Trail that points provides a map and details on areas of interest around New Plymouth. We went in numerical order of the map (not due to Beth’s OCD tendencies — just worked out that way) and began the walk learning that New Plymouth was settled (in terms of European ancestry) in 1840 by emigrants from the Devon and Cornwall areas of England.

During the walk, we saw some cool old buildings where original settlers lived and/or worked, the cool new contemporary art museum, the Taranaki Cathedral (gorgeous building, yard, and old cemetary), more parks, and Marsland Hill which is one of the higher points in New Plymouth and was used as a defensive outpost for the community. It was a great way to learn our way around town and appreciate more of its history.

Last night we officially celebrated Bob’s b-day at a local restaurant, called the Crowded House, while watching a rugby match on tv followed by the start of the Spanish Vuelta. This is a sports-mad country, and we’re looking forward to learning more about many of the sports that are lesser-known to us Yanks. Bob found a new favorite beer — Monteith Black.

Today we went to see the contemporary art museum — dedicated to the art of Len Lye who is maybe best well known for his kinetic art sculptures (see below). His 48 meter (157 feet) Wind Wand sculpture is along the coastal walkway down the street from the museum.

The art museum is near the Puke Ariki center which houses the i-Site travel information center, library, and a museum on New Plymouth. Today we toured the museum — lots on the native flora and fauna along with the history of New Plymouth from both the European-based and Maori perspectives.

Fun fact: Before other mammals were introduced to the country, bats were the only native mammal. This made it a great environment for birds, and New Zealand still seems to have a large variety of unique birds.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow have been/will be off and on rainy with the heaviest rain to come this evening and tomorrow a.m. Clearing on Wednesday, so hopefully we’ll get to do some more intensive exploration of the area later in the week.

We started our Saturday by taking the younger dog, Baz (male), for a walk along the trail that is right behind the house and runs along a stream (Te Henui) that empties into the Tasman Sea. In the town of New Plymouth, there are many streams and it seems as if all of them have awesome trails to tramp (the New Zealand term for “hike”) and bike. These dog walks will be one of our routines during our 6 week house sit–more frequent and longer ones with Baz and less frequent and shorter ones with the older dog, Jess (female). Both dogs are awesome.

After the dog walk, we got caught up on laundry and started discussing what kind of routines we wanted/needed to establish. To help with those discussions, we walked to the “i-Site” to pick up information on the local area. These i-Sites are the governmental tourist information centers. We picked up a ton of brochures for New Plymouth and the region, Taranaki. After that we did a quick walk-around of their central business district (CBD), quite impressive for a town of 70,000.

Our homeowners, Allan and Dana, are members at the local horse racing association. They had given us their passes to the day’s races, so we took in some horse racing at the Park which was an easy walk from the CBD. It was enjoyable as it was nice and sunny. It is amazing how much faster the horses seem in person! After we walked home we took both dogs for a small round-the-neigborhood stroll. As it was my birthday, we did a little celebration with a dinner at home and a bottle of wine and made plans to go out on Sunday.

The only snafu of the day was when Beth decided to use the power-on remote to try to change the channel to watch the evening news. This does not work, as Bob had previously informed her. No tv that night, but we subsequently found the instructions for the tv and are now able to appreciate more than just the outer shell of the tv!

We left Taupo for New Plymouth by bus at 10:20 a.m. on Thursday. We arrived in New Plymouth at 8:15 p.m. after a 3 hour layover in Hamilton. This wasn’t as bad as it sounds as we were able to lock up our bags at the bus station and walk along the riverwalk through town a bit before having a leisurely late lunch at the Iguana (very cute restaurant in Hamilton — across the street from the Riff Raff statue in honor of the individual who wrote the Rocky Horror Picture Show).

Dana (pronounced Donna), the wife of the couple for whom we are house sitting, picked us up at the bus station in New Plymouth. Since arriving we have met and learned about her family, the dogs (Jessie Lou and Baz), some friends, and have seen a bit of the area. New Plymouth is the port and main city in the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island. It is bordered by Mount Taranaki on one side (very impressive mountain) and the Tasman Sea on the other. Devon is the main street through town. We are in a lovely neighborhood close to a long walking/running/biking trail and also within walking distance to the main business area. The coast has a beautiful black sand beach and the walking trail has a lovely new bridge. We are excited to begin really learning the area and settling into a new routine.

We took Dana and Alan to the airport this a.m. for their six-week French holiday. (Our, as in Bob’s, first experience of this trip driving on the left-hand side of the road.  We survived.) Dana and Alan are a lovely couple, and we are honored to be caring for their home and pets.

Hey All,

We’ve fallen a bit behind on our blogging as we settle into out New Zealand house sit experience in New Plymouth — but more on that later. We wanted to provide a brief overview on our full day in Taupo. Taupo is a beautiful town centered around Lake Taupo, the largest fresh water lake in Australasia. Unfortunately for us, our only full-day here was cold and rainy, but we tried to make the best of it.

We did about a 3 hour hike from our motel to Huka Falls in the off-and-on again rain. The falls are on the Waikato River that flows out of Lake Taupo (about 30 other rivers flow into it). The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, and at least this stretch of it, is very, very clear. The falls themselves were a lovely blue color due to the clarity of the water and the presence of air bubbles in the water.

On the hike up we passed a bungy jump site and a thermal spa. There is a lot of geothermal activity in the region (mud baths, bubbling springs, steam, etc.) that they have harnessed for electric generation as well as tourist opportunities.

It was a nice hike/tramp even with the rain.

Afterwards we headed for a local craft brewery to do their 1:00 p.m. tour; however, they had cancelled the tour due to a meeting with their consultant. The brewmaster did take us in the back and talk with us briefly about the automated brewing systems they are helping to test. Apparently more breweries are being started worldwide than can be staffed with trained brewmasters. One is opening every 6 months in New Zealand and one per day in the US, per this individual anyway.

After the talk we went upstairs to the bistro, for a lovely lunch (french onion soup) and a shared beer tasting.  Not being much of a beer person (how did I come from WI?), I just had a sip of each. I enjoyed the pale ale and porter (middle 2) more than the amber (super light) and cider.

The weather cleared for a bit in the late pm so that I (Beth) was able to get in a short run.

This will be a short blog about an absolutely perfect day — Monday, August 17, 2015, as I (Beth) want to let the photos speak for themselves. We spent the day tramping around Waiheke Island — a 35 minute boat ride from Auckland. We caught the 9:00 a.m. ferry over and spent the morning tramping the northern trail from the ferry landing. We were on beaches, hugging cliffs, climbing stairs, and walking across meadows — all while gawking at the gorgeous harbor views and the houses of those wealthy enough to be able to afford those views. We wandered into the town center for a picnic lunch before heading back out to tramp on the other side of the island. This time we tramped through pastures with horses to the very top of the island before heading back down through rainforest-like vegetation. The day ended, perfectly enough, with a shared wine tasting and glass of Sauvignon Blanc at the Cable Bay Winery — awesome views and a short tramp back to catch the 4:45 ferry.