By the numbers
12,796 steps
8.82 kms
The day had come that I was to leave for New Plymouth though
first there was packing to do and food to find. Tiffany’s was actually closed
though I knew of a place just across the road from where I was staying. It did
not take long for me to get everything sorted and deciding it was checkout time
so made my way to where the bus would stop at Tiffany’s before heading to New
Plymouth. I was having a coffee and reading a book when a bus arrived. I looked
at the time and it was really early. I wandered out to look at the location the
bus was heading to and it did say New Plymouth. I was wondering if I should
disturb the driver. He was very happy when I introduced myself and did notice
there were very few people on the bus. He said that it was Sunday and people
were not going very far. He was happy to see me as he did not need to chase me
up and end up with a no show. The Naked Bus turned up and the driver asked if I
was waiting for them. I said no and asked if they were acting as Mana Bus too
since I seen the sign on the window. Could be why the lady missed her bus at
Taupo as it was running as Naked Bus.
There were plenty of seats on the bus when we took off and I
was thinking we would get to New Plymouth earlier that I had thought, but it
would only be 10 mins early and the driver himself had been happy i had been
early as he had been early arriving too. Some of the roads were very twisty and
they might be good on a bike though I think they might have problems too with
the narrow like roads. We did find two tunnels and I think some of the roads
would be the ones that we will end up on the Taranaki tour for tomorrow. It was
interesting as I seen a big brown sign pointing to a Hobbit film location that
was in another direction 15kms away. I wonder if they would do this for many other
film locations in New Zealand since The Hobbit came out. They do have some
strange names for places down this way. A town near New Plymouth is called Bell
Block not that I really know what it is about.
When I got off the bus the loo was a first visit and then
went to find the hostel, which Google Maps had said was right behind the bus
station. Turned out this was not actually true as the building behind was not
there. I was beginning to get a little worried as I had n idea where I should
be even though I knew I should be close. A nearby cafe had a banner up top
saying the name of the hostel I was staying in and I was hoping I had fund
where I had to go. I did not know where the entrance was and asked a lady from
the cafe who showed me the most obvious sign that I would have tripped over
from not seeing it. I was able to sort out my room though it was pretty hot in
the city. The first thing I sorted out was my washing, which took a little
while though I did end up betting a heritage trail information from the Info
centre that is also part of the museum and library.
Once the washing had been done and dried, I dragged myself
out for a walk and wanted to see the St Mary’s Cathedral, which was a church
until 2010. It is the oldest stone Church in New Zealand. I was wearing
trousers so it would make everything I was wearing a little bit hotter. I was
actually wandering through the cemetery as it was interesting to see the people
involved with the Taranaki wars. I wasn’t expecting to see a tree that was
being supported by supports. I wanted to see a little more than just the
Cathedral as it was getting later with a couple of hours before it went dark
and I wanted to do some of the trail. I walked up the hill from the Cathedral
as it was once the Pukaka Pa and then a redoubt for the British soldiers now
known as the Marsland Hill. Two places that I was not looking for were up there
too, which were the Observatory and the Volcanic activity monitor place for
emergency services. On the hill the things I had been looking for were the New
Zealand Wars memorial and the South African war memorial. There was a Carillion
too that makes music. Taranaki also known as Mt Edmont was under cloud cover so
couldn’t get a good view of it.
I wanted to head back for a shower and since I was at the
top of the hill, I made my way down o Red Coat lane that had something to do
with the soldiers going down to water their horses from the stream. Around the
same area was also an old flour mill that was the first one in the area. The
only things to survive were the mill wheels. I did make my way to the water
front and never realised the train line train through this area as well. The
wind wand weather wand thing that was on the beach side of New Plymouth was
actually an art installation. I did see some interesting art works through the
city and there seem to be some of the walks are really long though I do have
two days of tours and one full free day to do anything I want. Hopefully the
weather will cool down a little bit.
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