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!

Mt Taranaki Vacation: Part I

Day 1: Drive to Kokini Cabin and hike to Dawson Falls

 We drove up to Kokini Cabin, which is in  Mt Egmont National Park.  The drive itself was beautiful as can be seen above.  The picture with the mountain is Mt Taranaki or Mt Egmont depending on who you talk to.  It is a dormant volcano and amazingly symmetrical.  This was the first view we got of it.  We stayed on the mountain itself.  

 On our drive we stopped for lunch at a working Dutch Windmill.  It was a fun little side trip to break up the drive.

Dawson Falls

 When we arrived at the cabin, we settled in and then went on our first hike.  We went to Dawson Falls.  It was a beautiful hike through what is called goblin forest.  The falls itself was beautiful and fun to climb on all the rocks that surrounded it and continued downstream.  It was a good beginning to our vacation.

Day 2: Hike to Wilkies Pools and afternoon at Kaupokonui Beach

The view of Mt Taranaki peak, from the Visitor Center which was just up the hill from our cabin.

Wilkies Pools 

 Here we are at Wilkies Pools.  They are pools carved out of the lava rock and a great place to climb.  Hyrum also decided to go for a little swim and had to air dry is clothing for a bit.  What fun!


Kaupokonui Beach 

 Good luck pronouncing the name of this beach.  Many of the Maori words we have not idea how to say and even when we hear them, we still have not idea.  However, even if we cannot pronounce where we are at we can have fun there.  It was a bit chilly out of the water, but in was quite nice.  It was a beach where a river meets the ocean, so the river has a nice soft silty bottom and a slight current.  Hyrum and Sabrina tried for a little while but then decided to play in the sand instead.  The other kids played in the water with Kyle for a long while.

 Hyrum wrapped up and warm,         My Footprints in the sand,           Wendy posing for the camera

Sabrina had a great time in the warm black sand.