Wings on the menu today. That is we are going to wing it today…with no accommodations booked we head up the west coast of the North Island to New Plymouth. After riding over to say good bye to Shelly, Des and the boys…the ride out of the Wellington area was especially spectacular, complete with dark ominous clouds overhead. Maybe today we will need to pull out the fluro rain gear?
The distance between the towns is much closer than the South Island. It seems as soon as you get to comfortable cruising speeds you are entering another town and slowing it down!! We still have a hard time pronouncing most of the names of the towns!! My cous Shelly said that the best way to handle it is to break up the words after each vowel for pronunciation…So the town of Whakarewarewa… (yeah I know kind of mind boggling) would be broken up like this…Wha/ka/re/wa/re/wa. Give her a burl!…ha ha ha, good times!! I was even pronouncing Maori incorrectly, it sounds like More Re! Well there you have it a hidden language lesson…ha ha ha
One thing that Kev and I have noticed is the amount of vintage cars that are on the roads and in tip top shape to boot! You can tell that they are everyday drivers, and not just out for a Sunday spin so to speak. It almost seems that you have actually travelled back in time, it is pretty cool. Memories of my Gran come to me , especially when I pass the beautiful hydrangeas that grow here…
Countryside looks very manicured…of course it is when you have thousands of teeth trimming everything everyday! There is still that same amount of farm life…lots and lots!! Cows, horses, donkeys, lama's, goats, deer, oh yeah…and the occasional sheep! I'm kidding you…Baaalieve me they are not occasional…sheep are everywhere! ha ha baa!
We pulled into New Plymouth and found the cutest motel right near the coast. The price was right so we unloaded. We had made it just in time to grab the camera and walk town to the beach and watch the sun set. A couple of days ago we were watching the sun rise on the opposite coast! As we move further up the North Island the plan is to experience a rise and set in the same day from opposite coastlines!… I can't wait!!