The drive didn't quite go as planned. We planned to visit Jonty and Rachel on the way down in Pirongia - our approximate halfway point. This was planned with Joanne-style military planning to fit in with naps and feeds and everything else. Well we left Devonport at 11am on schedule, hit Auckland traffic (yes it really is as bad as everyone makes out) and didn't even make it to the end of the motorway before we needed to stop for our first feed. Breastfeeding in a petrol station. The glamour.
When we finally got to Pirongia we had a great visit with Jonty and Rachel - it was awesome to meet their two gorgeous kids, Cowan and Frankie, and to admire another MASSIVE house as everyone seems to have in New Zealand.
Driving down to Taranaki was a bit of an emotional affair for me. There are a lot of familiar milestones along the way, one of which is the Awakino Gorge. We had a strange experience when we hit The Gorge. The Gorge isn't really anything more than a moderately windy road these days but back when I was a kid it was a notorious stretch of road often becoming unpassable after the ubiquitous 'falling debris'. Whenever, I drive through The Gorge, even today, it carries an element of foreboding for me. On this trip as soon as we entered The Gorge all the following things happened simulaneously:
- The skies darkened (seriously)
- It started raining torrentially
- Elsie started screaming her head off
- We got stuck behind a truck (this is very bad news when you have perpetual 45 km/hr corners ahead of your for the next 15km..)
Once we were through The Gorge the rain passed, it got a bit lighter (even though it was dusk) and Elsie stopped crying. Once you are out of The Gorge the road comes out on the coast. At this stage not only can you see the ocean (obviously) but you can see all the way down the coast to Mt Taranaki. It's an amazing view the point on the journey when you feel like you are going to make it home. I must admit to getting a bit choked up. I was so pleased that we got to see the coast just before the last light faded. We stopped in the nearby beach settlement of Mokau to feed Elsie, parking right down by the sea. There was a massive swell and in the dark it was really cool to hear the waves crashing in the stormy weather. We took Elsie outside as we were moving her into the front of the car to have her dinner. I wonder if she noticed the smell of the sea and the sound of big west coast waves? Her first time for both.
It was great to see Marjan, Max and Uncle Bones again in New Plymouth. We rushed down to Taranaki to catch the last few days of the school holidays so that Joel could get in some fishing time with Max. There were good times had and a ready supply of gurnard, snapper and kahawai was enjoyed equally but differntly by all. Bones demonstrated his fried snapper scrambled egg one pan wonder (damn tasty), Max and Marjan went with pan fried snapper fillets in a classic butter sauce, Joel and I enjoyed the kahawai sashimi style (much to everyone's disgust), and I made fish pie with the kahawai that dad smoked in his re-purposed ex-dishwasher fish smoker. Much to our horror all the lovely fresh kahawai was either smoked or chopped up as bait before we got to eat any more Sashimi.
Taranaki cemented our notion that New Zealand houses are bl**dey cold. This was helped along by a decent dump of snow on the mountain. Very pretty but freezing!
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| Mount Taranaki |
However it didn't stop Mum and I from getting out and about on some good walks. Not that Elsie was having such a great time right at this moment. We were walking her along the coastal walkway in order to help her get some much needed sleep...it wasn't working.
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| Elsie definitely not sleeping on the New Plymouth Coastal Walkway |
On Thursday the 21st of April we left New Plymouth to head back to Auckland for Easter to meet Jenni who was returning from Canada. While we were packing the car Uncle Bones was walking around the property looking after Elsie. She fell asleep in his arms and I love this shot of them sitting in the wheel barrow together.
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| Elsie safe and sound with Uncle Bones |
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