Where we are staying and travelling internet access is scratchy so you will have to bare with me.
We had two days in Wellington, then drove up to New Plymouth on the west coast. We are in a small beach side town of Oakura and today the weather was perfect. We are having two nights here then start moving back up the island towards Auckland.

 



Wellington

Cable car Wellington

Mount Egmount near New Pymouth

Mount Taranaki, or Mount Egmont, is an active but quiescent stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. Although the mountain is more commonly referred to as Taranaki, it has two official names under the alternative names policy of the New Zealand Geographic Board. The 2518-metre-high mountain is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world. There is a secondary cone, Fanthams Peak, 1,966 metres (6,450 ft), on the south side. Because of its resemblance to Mount Fuji, Taranaki provided the backdrop for the movie The Last Samurai.

 

Wind farm

 

 

This area is big in pine log export.

 

 

The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47 am on Tuesday 3 February 1931, killing 256 and devastating the Hawke's Bay region. It remains New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster. Centred 15 km north of Napier, it lasted for two and a half minutes and measured magnitude 7.8 M_s (magnitude 7.9 M_w). There were 525 aftershocks recorded in the following two weeks. The main shock could be felt in much of the southern half of the North Island.

Because of the era, the town was rebuilt in Art Deco style with some beautiful examples of that architecture.

 

Nice beer