We originally planned to visit New Plymouth last year, over the Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, JP got a cancellation from the hotel he booked our rooms with, so we scrapped the trip and went to the Carnival of Lights Festival here in Wellington instead.
This Easter weekend, we finally got to visit New Plymouth with the girls. As we always do, we start out very early in the morning. On the way, we stopped by the large playground in Levin to get breakfast and give the girls time to stretch out and play.
New Plymouth is located on the west coast of New Zealand, facing the Tasman Sea. It’s about a 4-hour drive away from Wellington (in our case, it was almost 6, with play time for the girls, lunch, and stops to take photos).
On the way, we could not resist stopping by to take photos of the gorgeous Mount Taranaki, showing off her peak on a relatively clear sky. It was good that we did this early on in the trip, as it turned quite cloudy and rainy on our way back. Fun fact: some scenes of the movie “The Last Samurai” was filmed in this region, because Mount Taranaki resembles Mt. Fuji.
Here are the places we went to in New Plymouth. It was a pretty relaxed weekend, we did not do much, but it was a good time to discover more of New Zealand.
Coastal Walkway
It was late afternoon when we arrived in our hotel, so we simply took a walk along the Coastal Walkway and take photos of the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge. I love how our photos turned out here, perfectly capturing The Golden Hour.
I wanted a nice photo of the bridge with Mt. Taranaki in the background, but there were too many people in the bridge to get a proper shot. It was Good Friday, so most of the shops and restaurants were closed, for dinner, we just bought a KFC meal and ate it in the hotel.
City Walk
We explored the city next. First going to the Coastal Walk and taking photos of the Wind Wand, which is a fibre glass sculpture along the seashore. And then spent about a half hour playing in the nearby playground.
We also went to the Len Lye Centre, but didn’t get to go inside, as the girls were getting antsy in their strollers.
Pukekura Park
We ended the day in Pukekura Park, where Patty was fascinated by the fountain. We spent most of the time in the playground (of course!). We walked a bit to see the Poet’s Bridge. There is a connection to the Brooklyn Zoo, but as we went to the park quite late, we were not able to see it. Next time!
I included going to the Egmont National Park in our itinerary on our way back, but unfortunately, the weather turned bad and we decided to cancel it. That’s one more thing for us to look forward to on our next visit.
Overall, it was a good weekend. We got to visit another new place. It’s always nice to discover something new and learn more about New Zealand!
2 Comments
Great place to visit or to live. Nice to read how you enjoyed your visit in this simple and quite place. Staying for almost a year in New Plymouth is a memorable moments in my life. Walking along coastal way is my daily routine since we live at Devon St. Really missed the place because there’s a lot to see and never get tired going there everyday. Thanks for sharing . God bless.
Hi Nida,
I really liked our short stay in New Plymouth. I plan for us to go back there. The Coastal Walkway looks like a great place to run. I hope you get to visit it again too.
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