Mt. Taranaki Vacation: Part II

Day 3: Cabin Fun, Sugar Loaf Island Cruise, Festival of Lights

Cabin Fun

We knew it was going to be a late night so we spent the first part of it relaxing at the cabin and preparing for the afternoon and evening.  The kids discovered many new paths and made a lot of bases and castles.  

The Cruise

 We took an hour cruise around the Sugar Loaf Islands right off the coast from New Plymouth.  It was a great trip and we were lucky enough to see whales.  We also saw seals including some very cute 2 day old pups.  The captain let each of the kids take the wheel for a bit and they were excited. It was a  beautiful, fun excursion.  

  The whales: there were three in the water.  These pictures were taken by Eric.  What a great photographer.

 The Zoo, & Museum

The afternoon we spent at a small zoo and then Puke Ariki museum in New Plymouth.  The aviary at the zoo was quite nice and we were able to see a lot of birds.  The kids also liked the monkeys.  Somehow neither Kyle or I got photos at the museum.  It was very nice.  The top 2 floors were about the history of New Zealand and then the bottom floor was an exhibit on light.  It had a lot of hands on stations that the kids really enjoyed.

Festival of Lights 

The Festival of Lights showcases a park at night.  The park is lit with different types of lights and reflective surfaces.  The lights do not turn on until 8:30pm so we started our evening at the playground in the park.  It had a zip-line and in-ground trampoline as part of the play equipment.  It was a hit with all the kids.  When the light turned on we started walking through the park.  It was beautiful and had a Disney feel with all the people milling around, a band was playing, and little food places were set up.  It was a fun, albeit late evening.

Day 3: Hollard Gardens, Tawhiti Museum, Drive home

We started the day by cleaning up and checking out of our cabin.  We then headed down the road to some gardens we had passed multiple times on our drives elsewhere.  It ended up being well worth the stop.  

Hollard Gardens

 The gardens were beautiful.  It was so green and flowers were blooming everywhere.  I will do another post with just the flowers, but here are the people I enjoyed the gardens with.

Tawhiti Museum

 The Tawhiti Museum was very interesting for all of us.  It is a collection of exhibits that include life size models that make it seem much more real.  There are also miniature scenes that depict the history of the area.  It was fun and there was something that everyone enjoyed.  Amazingly it is the work of one man, a retired art teacher who makes all the models on sight at "The Body Shop"

 Another portion of the museum held a large collection of old farm equipment.  Although not as exciting in terms of learning for me, the kids liked climbing on all the tractors. 

Kyle driving a Ferrari!