Uh, oh, New Plymouth Again

 Hi there

I was in an independent ' I-don't-need-no-driving-licence' mood, trying not to feel sorry for myself, and so I did what I always do when I'm feeling irked by life ..  I shot off to New Plymouth for five nights.  This time, I went by Intercity bus, eight hours each way.  'Nuff said?

Yay, I stayed at the Devon Hotel:  two dinner buffets, one buffet breakfast, and two room service meals - the roast dinner of the day was a true feast.  I almost collapsed under the weight of the huge plated meal as I took it from the wait staff member who delivered it to my room.  

I also went to my fave Asian buffet where the creme brulee was superb.  And I know what you're thinking - "an Asian restaurant serving Creme Brulee, never?" But it was to die for and I always make a beeline to this place for dinner-with-creme-brulee when I'm in New Plymouth.

I swam in the Devon Hotel pool every day.  But - oh my - the pool temp was 30c. ( wasn't acclimatised to such heat. The sea at the moment in Wellington is somewhere around 12c. 

And I did something totally daring ... I got a free bicycle from the Devon Hotel and  cycled up and down The Coastal Walkway.  Goodness, it was exhausting.  I got off the bike more than I was on it.  It was all those mountains I was supposed to pedal up, and ended up pushing the bike over them instead.  Mind you, the passing walkers who I grizzled to, informed me that they were only small rises, not mountains at all.

I also wandered in and out of lots of charity shops down the main shopping road, Devon Street.

And that reminds me of a story my friend once told me -

My friend took a doll's house into a Wellington charity shop to donate.  She had spruced it up by painting the window sills and adding new shingles to the roof.  It was near to Christmas and my friend was positive there would be a little girl somewhere who would love to have the doll's house.

"Oh, no..."  The charity volunteer shook her head.  "We already have one doll's house.  We don't need another."

So my friend's husband lugged the doll's house back to the car.   They ended up giving it to a neighbour's son who loved it to bits. 

And this little story brings me back to New Plymouth.  Inside one charity shop, there were notices plastered  eveywhere asking for more donations. I also saw the same sort of notice inside other charity shops   Good on you New Plymouth.

I walked The Coastal Walkway, as well as cycling it.

As you can see, the above photo is up to my usual professional(?) standard of photography.

Another New Plymouth Holiday

 Hi there

I'm just back from 6 days' holiday in New Plymouth.  I so love walking the Coastal Walkway.  It's completely concrete, and part of it is directly opposite the city.  On the walk, one comes across bicycles, skaters, walkers, dawdlers, scooters, mobile scooters, joggers, families, mothers with prams. Last week, I even came across an oldie on a walker.  She was on the track for about half-an-hour.

I stayed at the Devon Hotel, in the city, with the most fantastic nightly buffet that the locals adore. And I can swear by the fish and chips from Room Service (plus... no tipping).   And across the road is a zig-zag path that leads you - in about 5 minutes - past a stream to the Coastal Walkway.  

There is a croquet green at the bottom of the zig-zag.  I stopped to sort out my sunhat and my sunblock.

An older guy passed me.  He nodded toward the croquet green.  "  Go on, " he indicated, with a wink.  "Give croquet a go?"

"I'm too young for croquet," I said.  ...  Fibber ...

I've done the Walkway lots of times, used to walk from the Ngamotu Beach end (family beach, calm water) which is down at the Port end -  to the modern bridge end.  Couple of hours walking it all one-way, maybe.

stock photo:  Mt Taranaki can be seen through the bridge

But last week, I decided to split up my walk into two sections, to make it more leisurely.  In whichever direction I walked I had to remind myself that I had to walk the same distance back again.  But there are points along the Walkway to park a car, cross over or walk up to a bus stop, or make a detour to the city.

Another place I love to stay in is a small serviced cabin at the Belt Road Seaside Holiday Park.  The cabin has en suite, and kitchen facilities.  The cabins (and some motor home parks) are on the edge of the cliff, looking across to the magnificent view of the sea, and the holiday park is right next to the Coastal Walkway.  What I like about these cabins, is that I can tie my own elasticated clothesline between the two poles on the cabin deck and dry my wet bathing suit!

above:  Me, on the Coastal Walkway. In front of a surf rescue club. Surf water.

above:   This used to be the entrance to the aquatic centre, a place where I learnt to swim when I was ten.  There's a more impressive entrance around the corner nowadays.  The Coastal Walkway goes around the aquatic centre.

above:  thin me!  There is a silvery-metallic-type sculpture on the Coastal Walkway, near to the city.   If I go around the back of the sculpture and look at my reflection, I appear extremely thin.  Wow, wonderful.  Hey, my hair even looks thin; it was very windy and I got a sort of mohawk.

above:  Along the Coastal Walkway.  Behind the tree, you can spot a glimpse of a yellow-ish building.  This is the Clarendon Flats, St Aubyn Street, where I lived for a couple of years as a child.  If you look in front of the posh new building on the right, you can see a white fence.  I used to stop my bicycle against the fence and just sit there on my bike, gazing for ages at the sea.   I was so fascinated by it.

The above photos taken last week. If you look further back in this blog, at other New Plymouth holidays, you'll see more photos taken from the Coastal Walkway (of the actual sea views!)

New Plymouth Again

Hi there

Last week I went to New Plymouth for five days.  It's about five hours drive away from Wellington.  I went up there to walk the Coastal Walkway.  I intended to walk it every day...

It rained every day. 

The first day it rained lightly, so I walked a few kms in the rain, umbrella up.  And there was no wind.  So eerie, I'm used to windy weather; I live in Wellington, after all.

The next day I managed to cram half of the walkway into the few hours where the sky was cloudy but there was no rain. The very next day I finished the walkway.  In the rain, again.

The next day .... under the orange rain alert, I stayed in the hotel.  I tried to leave.  Twice.  Once in my car, but my little blue baby wouldnt start.  She'd gulped down too much rain, I figured.

So, I donned my rain jacket, and my hiking shoes, grabbed my umbrella and set out the two blocks from the Devon Hotel to the town shops.

I didn't even make it the one block.  Every driveway had turned into a waterfall.  My shoes were saturated before I even exited the hotel's premises.  I was soaaked.

I gave up.  And spent the day in the hotel, eating Weight Watcher apple crumble bars and watching tv.

The good thing about the Devon Hotel is they have breakfast and evening (magnificent) buffets, and a pretty good room service menu.  Oh, and a swimming pool.

above:  on the coastal walkway.

***

I belong to a Voice Arts class for seniors.  Impromptu stuff, talking about the past, having fun. Our instructor is Hilary Norris.  At present she is playing one of the three elderly witches in "The Coven on Grey Street", at Circa Theatre, here in Wellington.  I went on Sunday, with a bunch from our class.  What a lovely, funny, enjoyable play.

above: Hilary is the actress on the left in the poster outside Circa Theatre, Wellington.