Easter Weekend

As we have a lovely long weekend here for Easter, James and I thought we’d get out and actually do something or some things. Get out of the house and be active…

Good Friday

After having a long lay in we decided to take a drive out past Wainuiomata and see what we could find in the way of nice places to walk or sit for a while. I’ve been out that way a few times but I’ve never actually got to the coast before.

It’s such a pretty route to take as you drive through the valley. Some of the farms look so remote, I can’t imagine living in a place so far away from everyone else, I think I’d scare myself. In fact I KNOW I’d scare myself!

Anyway, we drove out past Wainui and kept going until we reached the coast, at which point we got out and began walking 🙂

It was quite windy and I was glad I’d taken a jumper…though my lack of proper walking boots did get on my nerves a little. Along the way James found some cool bouldering rocks, so I think we’ll be going back at some point when we have  a big ol’ crash mat and our climbing shoes 🙂

It was really relaxing and fun to get out of the house and do something…we even saw a sheep and a few seals 🙂

Easter Saturday

Both waking up with hangovers is never a great idea when you say you’re going to get up early to drive a long way…however, we both had hangovers that needed tending to. We decided the best way to nurse these hangovers would be with a filthy Drexels breakfast, I had pancakes and a poached egg and James the Farmers Breakfast.

After a quick trip to my house to check on the cats, we ventured out in the car towards Taranaki. ​We stopped for photographs on Paekakariki Hill as there was an excellent view of Kapiti Island.

When we got to New Plymouth we realised that finding a room might be a little bit of a challenge…everywhere was booked up. Finally we thought we’d made progress when we booked a room through an accommodation website, however, we received a phone call telling us that the hostel had double booked.

Never mind, we had the car. So off we went in search of a campsite to spend the night at instead. We thought we’d probably be staying in the car tonight. In fact we found a campsite, with a plot for us, then we found Warehouse and managed to get a cheap tent and we slept in that 🙂

It was a long day of travelling but I was thoroughly enjoying our little adventure! Who cares if we’re sleeping in a tent or a car or a room, it’s all the same to me 🙂

I like the driving and the scenery and the walks and the company.

Easter Sunday

After a reasonably restful sleep I woke up to children playing on scooters outside, so decided to get up and have a shower. Sleeping Beauty remained asleep!

When we were both up and dressed we decided that we’d go for a walk along the beach path. It was lovely, we saw people surfing and the sun was shining. It was a perfect start to the day. We left the campsite and drove towards the Surf Highway, as we’d been told that there were lots of little cafes and restaurants along this way. We couldn’t find them! Instead we found a big rock, it’s called Paritutu Rock and we were told by the sign there that it’s a nice walk to the top.

We located the beginning of the walk and it was going very well…until the steps stopped! No seriously, the steps stopped and they were replaced by a metal chain to which you hold onto as you climb up (and I really do mean climb) the rock. Following our scary descent, we stopped for a spot of breakfast before continuing along the Surf Highway back home. Along the way we stopped at a few lovely beaches and took loads of photos 🙂

​It was a lovely day and a great adventure.

Easter Monday

Sadly no photos from today, but a whole lot of fun!

I persuaded James to come roller skating with me, I think he wasn’t that up for it, however, once we strapped on the skates/blades and begun he was having a great time 🙂

James told me that it had been over 20 years since the last time he roller bladed…it’s not been that long for me, only about 8 months. I have my own skates, but James hired his from Fergs and we skated all along the waterfront, right up to Oriental Parade and then back again a few times. Once we had decided that we were hungry, we stopped and headed for food before going back to mine and then rock climbing. Overall a very well spent few days off having adventures 🙂