You had me at majestic

We got up and gathered our bags for the first time in a few days now, adding a surprise farewell-bag from our lovely hosts. Breakfast and off we were, we would head back to Wellington for a second take while Jonte and Janelle would go with mom and dad to Rotorua and then later Auckland for their return flight.

This time the clouds were on my side so we stopped along the way to snap that should of Taranaki mountain that had eluded me the other day. Juni slept like a baby (which when I think of it now is a very strange saying) in the beginning but woke up after a bit more than an hour and after songs or Babblarna (some sort of hypnotic children show from Sweden I snagged from youtube before we left) started to no longer work we started to scout for a resting place where she could crawl about.

A nice driveway is required to pull the pillared entry off

We found a lovely place which sold antiques (nothing that caught our eyes though) and some home-made soup and sandwiches. We were the only patrons so we had a chat with the friendly old lady who run the place.

After chilling for a bit we drove onwards to Wellington, and this time for another apartment suite which had a great price for two nights. Their parking lots were full but there was a public parking house just across the street which actually was cheaper so all well. Or at least so we thought, turns out that to pay for more than 12 hours at the time you need to use their app – well enough. Who in their sane mind puts a parking app only on their local app store (and why does Apple make it anything but smooth with national stores)? I’m standing with a international visa-card and am trying to buy a parking spot in a more or less parking house but are unable because reasons.

In the end lady fortune solved it for us though or rather lady unknown approached us as we were unpacking the car – she was working in the area but said we could use her spot in the parking house over the weekend when she didn’t need it. That’s very hospitable.

We opted for a calm night so settled for picking up indian at The Great India, and on the short walk there I passed our old apartment – Wellington isn’t that big after all I guess. On the way back I walked past an gigantic wall poster for Samsung Galaxy Note 7 – aka the firebomb that was recalled and aren’t allowed on planes if you happened to buy one and haven’t returned it yet. Seems cancelling advertisement isn’t that easy.

It would have been enough with one butter chicken to share but why settle for less – the food was top notch – as in let’s save this so we can re-heat it sometime in future good. The rest of the night was spent reading and I finished Nemesis Games in the Expanse series. Now I’m however out of luck since the next book (which won’t even be the last) isn’t released until December. Guess the blog will get updated more frequently as an upside though…

To prove that there are cloudy days in New Zealand as well…

First on today’s schedule was Possum Environmental shop, Janelle and Jonte was potentially looking for slippers and Teresa praised the fur so off we went.
I can’t really come to peace with the idea that buying possum furs is good for the environment (including the endangered Kiwi bird) – I mean the logic is rather simple, they are a pest (while protected species in Australia) which lack natural enemies so something must be done, and if the value of a dead possum (fur etc) is less than the effort of shooting it then it’s dropping poisoned pellets or other means but they also risk harming the surrounding environment. Thus, in order to maintain current bio-balance or shift it towards more Kiwi and less possums this work is done. I have to say the fur is really really smooth though, and I tried on a few slippers but nothing really fitted me perfect so no purchases for me this time.

That’s not to say Team Ernholm left empty-handed, Mona got a pair of leg warmers in “Possrino” the (un)holy mixture of Merino and Possum fur with a tad of silk as well as a possum fur container which would hold an old school hot water bottle. Hot water bottles however is not a big thing in the Nordics so we need to acquire one while here as well but the function is similar to what the “Bush babies” we got in our tents in Tanziania, you have something warm and furry that keeps you company in the bed.

After the shopping we drove to the foot of Taranaki, Dawson Falls to be more specific, it was a bit too cloudy for real epic shots of the mountain itself but it was a nice forest trail we explored quickly and they also had a restaurant providing fika there.

This trail looks like something out of Princess Mononoke

After driving back home I headed out with Jonte and Geoff to get ingrediens for tonight’s barbecue as well as scout for above mentioned hot water bottle. No bottle were to be found but plenty of delicious ingredients on the other hand.

Then again, it can be awesomely green even an overcast day

Back home it was beers (Geoff seem to always have one ready to offer, handy trait if I may say so), solving world problems and discussing possible itineraries for the remaining trip meanwhile those more skilled than yours truly prepared the kitchen. Juni had a bit of a struggle to fall asleep but eventually gave in so I could join the others having dinner. It’s hard to fail with two skilled chefs around as well as several enthusiats so it was a fittingly tasty last dinner in New Plymouth.

Something delicious with a fancy name to go with the grilled veggies and meat

The top building visible is the deck next to dining room. Juni was not allowed near the fence.

After a breakfast we got a view/tour of the lovely terassed garden which wasn’t really visible in full when we arrived the day before. With lemon and orange trees, chicken and lambs for neighbors it likely puts quite a few parks I’ve seen to shame.

Te Rewa Rewa bridge

This is my stick. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Janelles mother, Teresa, kindly took upon herself to show us around the area so we drove to the beach for a leisure stroll along the coastal line. Jonte found a special piece of driftwood he liked and all rejoiced.

Black swans and white ducks – it’s an upside down world

After the promenade we headed on further on to Pukekura park with a nice lake in the middle and a fernery to Mona’s delight. We also saw a Black Swan (not the first in New Zealand actually) which I decided needed to get documented.

For once we had left the diaper bag in the car so of course we ended up needing it. I walked to get it, and on my way passed two parking spots before getting to the one with our cars –  where also the whole group was already assembled. It seems I didn’t take the closest route – but who has multiple parking spots for a park? Bah.

We went back for lunch in New Plymouth at the Chaos Café – where yours truly enjoyed their chaos curry but the perhaps biggest surprise was dad having a chocolate milkshake. Happily fed we drove out the local zoo, Brooklands Zoo. Before we entered the zoo there was a playground and after some persuation mothers joined in the fun.

No relatives were harmed – but don’t try this at home kids.

We were initially bit sceptic to the zoo concept (as usual) but it seemed like one of the nicer ones and we had a look at the various animals as they were fed. Juni was very interested in the pigs and we also looked at the meerkats.

Approximately 30 minutes old and moves way faster than Juni.

Back at the house the animal theme kept on since one of the sheep were giving birth – we  gave the sheep some privacy and later snapped a few shots of the newborn one.

After a quick nap we headed of to Quiz night at the local pub, a long standing tradition in the James household. The team consisted of the Swedish visitors, Janelle with family, and friends through Janelle’s sister Rosie. Janelle’s father Geoff took a dangerous gamble and together with another Geoff switched the agreed choice of bonus topic – which they had to reveal after we got 9 out of 10 in the expected bonus category. Luckily it paid off and we got full points on the misc category, but it was a close call. With the diversity of the team’s knowledge it of course led to a win (out of 10 teams) to our hosts delight.