Volca No View
During our drive to Mount Taranaki, the following happened, which we had been looking forward to for a while (both being numbers geeks)...
We’re both so sad... we’re made for each other!
All the way to Mount Taranaki we were in clouds again. New Zealand’s Maori name is Aotearoa, which loosely translates as ‘the land of the long white cloud’ – so perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised.
This was our view for the journey – surely some of the most frustrating views possible, worse than it being completely covered! It is the most perfectly-shaped volcano standing guard and alone over the landscape, visible for miles around.
And then, finally, the view cleared... we didn’t get a full view of the whole mountain, but you can see how impressive it would be on a clear day...
We arrived at our campsite – named Volcan No View. We couldn’t decide if they were being sarcastic – given we arrived when there was definitely No View – but on a clear day they would have an incredible view of the volcano!
The family who run the campground and café are Dutch – ten years ago they came to NZ on holiday, and loved it so much they decided to move here, bought an old farm, and turned it into the café and campground. They also run shuttles up to the volcano for people who want to walk.
We ate at their café, and bizarrely – given they are a Dutch family – their speciality is an Indonesian tasting platter, which was delicious, particularly the sticky pork.
We also took advantage of the dry weather to empty the van and repack all our suitcases, in preparation for the flight home – dull, and quite sad for this amazing trip to be ending soon, but necessary!
Tomorrow we drive to Auckland, and a special hotel, room and dinner for our final night in NZ.