Mountains and martinis

bed count: 48

Okay - now in the very pretty city of Wanganui after heading south via New Plymouth and Mount Taranaki.

I may have already said this, but the last Wwoof we were at (at Pukeanui) was just great. We were made to feel so welcome and it was lovely being in a family home again. It's really tough to get back on the road after being somewhere so good...

But back on the road we are, with the aim of doing a 10 day road trip to Napier via Taupo, Whakatane, and Gisbourne (not the most direct route - let me assure you). Planning on being in Napier for Christmas and then just north of Wellington, on the coat, for New Year. Apparently it rains on Christmas day here. Great...

Anyhow - New Plymouth was okay. We stayed at a bit of a strange hostel though. It was worth it, however, as we got to go up Mount Taranaki the next day (well okay - 1/3 of the way up, by car). Probably the most impressive mountain either of us has seen since it rises from sea level to 8,261 feet. Pretty cool.

As I say - Wanganui is a very pretty city, though in most countries you would call it a very pretty town... Feels a bit like Tallin / Riga, thought that could just be to do with the sun-drenched cafe-lined streets. The hostel here has free bikes so we made the most of it and had a lovely cycle along the river front in the evening sun yesterday. Having a chill out / organisation day today befire heading north tomorrow.

Anyhow - trying to be quick as internet time is running out. Finally managed to get pictures online from the Wwoof way back at Eirever (Pet's Garden of Rememberance)- see the Eirever Wwoof set on Flickr.

Working on getting the photos from the last couple of weeks online, but it ain't that easy on the road. boy, we were spoilt in Paihia!