New Plymouth – Returning to Te Ika-a-Māui

36. New Plymouth – Taupo

Saturday, March 16: Very cloudy to begin with, clearing to moderately cloudy by afternoon

Donna’s (airbnb, $53.8)

The alarm seemed to work OK, and I was the only one about the house (except for two cats who were in various stages of interaction). I managed to get a coffee and a couple of slices of toast with cheese on top for the improvised breakfast. Everything packed into the suitcase and backpack, with the supplementary pack almost empty, because the tent fit into the suitcase.

I was ready for my taxi by 7:20 and put my stuff out on the corner. One from another company passed by, then the bus that I was later to take and the driver and I saluted each other. Then @ 7:30 my ordered taxi. Read more…

35. Day off in New Plymouth

Friday, March 15: Sunny, hot & humid

Colin’s

Today was a day for a bit of a sleep-in, followed by breakfast from Theresa, who as a night owl gets up later in any case. Breakfast was fried eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms on toast with tea, and was partaken with Eric over meandering conversation. At some point Theresa had to prepare for a customer (she is a masseuse) and we set about our work.

New Plymouth Post Office Tower mirrored in Govett-Brewster Art Gallery

First I had to remove everything from the pack and sort out some washing. Then the raincoat and the pack had to be washed out in the driveway with the hose; plenty of foam still forming in the pack, and these were hung out on the line to dry. The boots were not getting very dry as they were. As I was finishing the hose job, Theresa’s customer rolled up in her car with custom plates and before she went into the house introduced herself to me as “Jill” (which was clear from the plates). Read more…

33. Waiaua Gorge – Kahui (AMC 3)

Wednesday, March 13: Storm with rain overnight, less rain @ around 7:00, until quite a rainy period from 11:00 – 15:00

Tramping: 6.4 km

Kahui Hut (Doc, $5)

The hut hadn’t really cooled down that much during the night, although the fire had soon been reduced to embers. I was up @ 7:00 and was packed ready to go soon after 8:15. It was going to be a rain-prepared day so I had the raincoat on, camera in the pack, GPS in a plastic bag, and I would have put the two bob watch in a plastic bag as well, but inserting it pushed two buttons at once which reset the time to the zero hour. This had to be rectified before continuing, so the camera had to be taken out again to find the time. Tripod was carried breastwise, the two crox were tied to the front strap extensions and the pack was put under wraps. Read more…

31. North Egmont – Lake Dive (AMC 1)

Monday, March 11: Lovely sunrise, followed by variable cloud

Tramping: 17.0 km

Lake Dive Hut (Doc, $15)

Day for a 6:00 start. I had knocked over a glass of water on the night stand reaching for the bed lamp and that corner of the room was a little wet. Apart from that breakfast proceeded apace and I even got to wash the dishes (although I left them on the rack to dry) and had the remaining stuff in the suitcase or the pack and was ready to go @ 6:45.

My shuttle was on time and agreed with me that clockwise was the way to go. He also suggested aiming for Lake Dive as the first stop. On the way up the mountain there is a second car park with a shuttle service. Apparently things are starting to get crowded here as well in the summer, particularly because overnight stays are also allowed in the upper car park at the Visitor Center. Shortly after 7:30 we were at the top. There was a man in hiviz with a radio obviously talking to the car park further down the mountain, because today might also be busy as it is Taranaki Day, a local holiday. Read more…

30. New Plymouth: Pukekura Park

Sunday, March 10: Cooler and variably cloudy

Walking: 7.6 km

Paul’s

There was time for a little real shopping (bread, cheese, sausage – the latter two for the tramp) and some of the window variety (mainly to see whether a dollar shop had screw-capped 100 mL containers – have seen some by Sistema, but they appear very bulky) while waiting for the weather reports. Not going to be easy for the tramp, with showers or even heavier rain forecast.

Also started having a look at Taupo and found a place that looked quite nice. Will have to make a list for tonight so that I can see what needs to be done most urgently. Read more…

29. New Plymouth: Coastal Walkway

Saturday, March 9: Sunny but a little cool to being with

Hiking: 16.8 km

Paul’s

Breakfast was very laid back. My Japanese co-inhabitant, Taro, was off surfing very early and returned as I was finishing some toast.

After that some shopping had to be done (fruit, something to put on some sandwiches, and some lemonade), then a visit to the i-site revealed two shuttles that would take me up and (hopefully) back down the mountain. Taranaki Mountain Shuttle, whose website I had seen yesterday and which is an absolute disaster is unfortunately the one I had to choose. I say unfortunately because communication is not their forte, and the other company (Mountain Shuttle/Cruise NZ tours) also has a later option for the journey up. In the course of the day I managed to arrange with the the gent from TMS via facebook that I will be picked up @ 7:00 from the nearest street corner and will still have to try to determine when I might be back. Read more…

28. Whanganui – New Plymouth

Friday, March 8: Rain on and off throughout the day

Paul’s (airbnb, $37.6)

Made the acquaintance of Sid & Angela at breakfast this morning, and a discussion of criticality followed – he was an (Indian) epidemiologist in public health, and I never found out what she did, except that she plays the piano rather well, and the upright in the lounge room was in tune. They escaped rather quickly after that and I was left on my own with Marina & Brennagh.

Surprise, surprise was that Dempsey’s had refunded me the full $108 I was asking for. There is a real issue of getting email through to them, though, as mine was already labelled as spam. I deleted my remark on their facebook page and will leave it at that for a while. Read more…

26. Pipiriki – Whanganui (Mail run)

Wednesday, March 6: Cloudy the whole day with a little sun shining though occasionally and a sprinkle or two of rain

Brennagh’s/Dave’s

Sleep was unusually fragmented – I managed to fall asleep fairly quickly (what a difference a bed makes) but awoke from about 12:30 for an hour and a half before sleeping through to 7:00.

The one guy with the very compact tent had it packed away in next to no time and was a Tasmanian on the Te Araroa (south to north) and was going via the road (in lieu of a jetboat) to National Park. Also spoke to a British couple with daughter at breakfast, who were also going kayaking together with the older American woman (jetboat up, kayak/canoe back). As for my breakfast the egg was the last thing over that I wanted to eat (muesli bars excluded for the time being) and there was enough coffee for one cup. The last remaining yoghurt in the fridge had been opened and had started to sprout a fungus so that had to be thrown away. Read more…

20. Whanganui – Manutahi

Thursday, February 28: A sprinkle of rain in the morning, becoming fine & sunny, wind a little cooler

Howard & Catherine’s (airbnb, $40.6)

The place was pretty full last night with the German couple (Timo & Chris) in the one room, and a woman in the other. My breakfast was the usual two helpings of cereal followed by eggs & cheese on toast, then the question of packing had to be addressed. There were also two painters present today who were sanding and painting the right side entrance so to collect my washing I went through the front door. Everything was moderately dry.

Managed to pack everything up and vacate the room before 11:00. To fill out the time until we were to be picked up for the bus I decided to have a look at what RawTherapee will be doing to the pictures. The aim here was to get the largest sized image out of the RAW file, without borders, and what level of preprocessing would it be reasonable to have it do. Read more…

18. Whanganui

Tuesday, February 26: Still a bit cold but almost sunshine pure today

Dave’s/Brennagh’s

Had to bite the bullet today and soon after breakfast I went around to the hunting place, but their two civilian backpacks were rather heavy even empty and the camo ones didn’t really come into question. Then it was off to Rel Computer Solutions (144A Victoria Ave) where the guy gave me the advice of resetting the laptop to a restore point by holding down the shift key during start up (didn’t work), and then to Kathmandu who had a 40 L, reasonably light (1.9 kg) pack, one compartment only, for $300, with the possibility of getting 40% off if I complained too much. Then I paid a seamstress (Sue’s) a visit and she assured me that if she could get the seam under her machine she would repair the current pack. With that sorted it was time to return & collect the gear to see what could be done. Read more…