Wot, no photos? Oh yes there are!

A calmer night last night, and we woke to a great view over Pukerua Bay with dappled sunshine on the breakers. Once we'd packed and sorted ready for travel later in the day, we popped over to Margaret & Ashley's where we met friend Prue and had a nice chat about all sorts of things.

While chatting, the weather changed from Normal to exciting! Torrential rain, gale force winds, sharp hail, thunder, lightning, almost everything the heavens can offer except snow. Fortunately I'd already backed the motorhome down the steep slope and onto the road below, because it would not have been easy after the weather arrived.

It eased off after a while and we set off at midday with fond farewells to Margaret & Ashley for somewhere north of Pukerua Bay; we weren't too sure exactly where, but New Plymouth was one target. We made good progress despite a few stops for coffee and lunch in an interesting wooden café with a little turret and spire in Waverley.

Driving north up Highway 1, then through Wanganui on Highway 3, took us onto Highway 45 – the Surf Highway. It sounded more exciting than it actually was. We could see the sea in a few places, and even the odd breaker, but it wasn't as exciting as the west coast of the South Island.

All the way around the Surf Highway, we had our first volcano to our right: Mt. Taranaki, 2,518 metres high, but the most we could see of it was some distant foothills as it was constantly shrouded in cloud. Therefore, we didn't end up taking a single photo today, so here's a satellite view of the area thanks to Google:

written by  Saros on May 18, 2009 from New Plymouth, New Zealand
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip
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