Opanuke to New Plymouth and Waitara

The holiday park we choose was right on the beach with very few campers and good weather. Expecting rain the next day, we were pleased we woke to a light pink sunrise and clear skies.

Tom and I like the 'little black' roads on most maps. In New Zealand, we like the yellow roads. We choose to take a yellow perimeter road around the base of the volcano, until one of the little yellow roads became a one lane in both directions, windy, twisty, gut lurching, blind corner road! A left turn back down to the main highway and we were good again. We did a quick walk through the town of New Plymouth at the 12:00 position to Mt Taranaki and made camp at a small site in Waitara. The shorter days are nice, allowing us a couple of hours after getting to camp for a walk on the beach, exploring the area, or just sitting in the sun with a book/nap! We even got a second day to watch Mt Taranaki as we drove around the base. In the late afternoon she had a bunch of clouds crowded around the base like a petticoat.