Wellington to Opanuke New Zealand

Our plans like a lot of cruisers have flexed and flowed as we've discovered places that we think we'd like to explore. Our next day was no different.

Our original destination was Whanganui, an easy 200k day. The brochures showed some interesting architecture, including a 66meter tower that, on a clear day, one can see Mt Taranaki to the NW, and the South Island past Wellington. With intentions to overnight here, we stopped at the iSite office. These are the tourist bureau offices, either manned with helpful folks behind the counter, or roadside kiosks, often with local hiking and historical info. Whanganui's iSite had several folks with computers at hand and were able to first of all give us the weather forecast for the next couple of days. The day we stopped it was clear and sunny. Our next destination was to be Opanuke on the 7:00 'location'(slightly south, south east) of Mt Taranaki. The next couple of days forecast was gloomy with gale force winds. The team opted to keep driving and head for Opanuke today and hopefully catch a glimpse of Mt Taranaki without a hat on!

We were very lucky in that regard. The light clouds touched the top and moved on. Some danced around her skirts, and then they all just went away. It's sort of like going to Alaska to see Mt Denali, or Seattle to see Mt Rainier. Success!