Taranaki – fill of attractions

According to Lonely Planet in 2017 Taranaki was chosen as the second-best region in the world to visit.   Lonely Planet went onto say “that New Zealand was the second-best family adventure destination in the world”, no wonder over the previous years we have been flooded with tourists.

My reason for visiting Taranaki was to catch up with a couple of my nieces and their families and do a little exploring.  I love returning to Taranaki –  it’s like returning ‘home’ in a sense.  I have many happy memories, adventures and experiences to recall and reflect.  The southerly wind blew (coming directly from the Southern Ocean) and it snowed on Mt Taranaki and one morning the Pouakai Ranges had a light covering.   Weather-wise Taranaki didn’t disappoint – yet as a child, I never remember it being that ‘cold’.

Tūpare Gardens

Floss (my niece) and I walked to and explored the Tūpare Gardens.  What a beautiful 4.5 ha parkland area these gardens are, even in winter when the trees are bare and little colour on display. My thought has been “if a garden looks good in winter, imagine what it will look like in summer“.

The gardens were established 80 odd years ago by Russell Matthews and his wife Elizabeth.  It must have been a challenging job considering the steepness of the gully which is boarded by river flats and the Waiwhakaiho River.  The gardens also include a couple of beautiful English styled homes.  When next in Taranaki, I suggest you add these gardens to you “to do” list.

Oakura Beach

Oakura Beach is located 15 minutes south of New Plymouth.   It is a little village built/located around the beach.  Oh my, how it has grown and changed – it has been many years since I last visited this beach.  When we were growing up we’d only visit the beach twice a year: New Year’s Day and our local school picnic day that was usually held in early February.   I have two very strong memories of those special times:

1. sunburned lips and arms, both which always seem to blister, and
2. black sand.  It was many years later before I learnt that not all beaches have black sand, that was quite a revelation for me.  The black sand in the heat of summer is not pleasant on bare feet!!

Re-cycled materials

Seeing people making the most of re-cycled materials always catches my eye and imagination.  When out having a little bike ride in the countryside  I came across the following recycled objects including the image at the top of this post at the entrance of a property.  Very clever and imaginative.  What do you think?

Professional horse saddle fitting

Watching a large feisty horse getting a saddle fitting was a first for me.  Floss’s horse is big (tall and big boned) and whenever Floss got on to ride him he was never happy.  She invited me along to watch this event which meant loading the horse into her truck and driving to Egmont Village (another journey down memory lane) to meet with Phil.  He is a Certified Saddle Fit Technician, Equine and Saddle Ergonomist – that is a long title!  Phil had a very well equipped van which contained a workbench; a stand of beautifully made Italian leather saddles with an eye-watering price tag; and shelves of horse equipment:  girths, bridles, halters etc.  He was on his way to Invercargill via the East Coast of the South Island doing similar work to what he was doing that morning.  Watching Phil at work was fascinating, how he handled, talked, and settled the horse (who was jittery and nervous) down.  Phil placed on the back of the horse a variety of saddles with different padding lengths and widths etc until he felt he’d solved the problem.  Fortunately for Floss it didn’t involve buying a new saddle but he gave her a few workable solutions.

It was an interesting and expensive half hour – but I guess that is what you do when you can’t solve an issue yourself.  All my nieces in Taranaki are passionate about their horses and do very well with them – though it’s not part of my DNA I’m still interested.

Lepperton

My next adventure was to stay on a dairy farm in the Lepperton distract and catch up with my niece Robyn, and her husband Paul.  Their gardens and farm are quite stunning, very picturesque and in immaculate condition with plenty of grass.  During Covid lockdown Paul and one of his son’s Carey constructed a mountain bike track in a stand of bush near their home.  It is amazing, what an asset to have on your farm especially so as many of the family are into mountain biking, even the little grandchildren love having a go.    My excuse for not trying it out was I heading home and the surface was slippery!

But the great news is Lepperton now has its own cafe called Lepperton Store and Cafe and from all reports it is well visited by cyclists as the roads around this area are either up and down or flat circuits.

I cycled around to Brendan’s (Robyn & Paul’s middle child) farm, he was off snowboarding on Mt Taranaki as it was the first day the ski field was open and only days before his cows started calving.  He was determined to make the most of his free time and enjoy a day off the farm.

It was great catching up with my great nieces and nephews and watching them living their lives and rowing their own boats so to speak.  A few days away was restorative and a break from the daily routine.  I like the following quote about family.

“Though our branches grow in different directions, our roots remain as one.”

Can’t wait to visit Taranaki in the not too distant future, walking the Pouakai Crossing is sounding like a great adventure – anyone interested?

Mt Taranaki, looking stunning the morning I left Taranaki

What are your favourite spots in Taranaki?  I’d love to hear about them.

Till next time, GoldCard Gal 🙂