Highlights from New Plymouth

Our time in New Plymouth has come to an end. I’ve already written about much of the sights we’ve seen in the region, but there were some pretty marvellous attractions in the city centre as well.

First up is the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery which is combined with the Len Lye Centre, the first museum in New Zealand devoted to a single artist. During our visit the exhibition Len Lye: Atomic Power was running, providing a fascinating glimpse into the work of a quite extraordinary kinetic artist – including a reconstruction of his tangible motion sculpture ‘Atomic Dance’ (1960) which was performed just once during Len Lye’s lifetime.

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Len Lye Centre

Another of Len Lye’s major works, Wand dance, can currently be seen in the gallery (25th February — 6th August 2023). I would never have believed how captivating it would be to see seven bell topped poles swaying and shaking with increasing intensity in choreographed movement. Wand dance was completed in 2018 by the Len Lye Foundation from their collection of Len Lye’s unrealised projects.

The spectacular view from the 15 metre tall Parititu rock, in Paritutu Centennial Park, was another highlight. On one side this volcanic rock overlooks the port and its industrial units and the city beyond, while on the other it offers a view over the Sugar Loaf Islands. It’s a short but steep climb to the top.

The first section take you up a path and wooden staircase, but beyond this you have to follow chains bolted into the rock. Initially these are quite gentle, but then go sharply upward, becoming more of a rock climb than a hike. I tackled the first section, but chickened out of the next. No matter, the view is still spectacular from here – and gave me a superb view of a freight train arriving in the port.

The view from part way up Parititu rock

The museum in the centre of New Plymouth, at Puke Ariki, is rather special too. The museum is split in to a number of permanent exhibitions, such as Taranaki Life, which takes us from the days of the early settlers from Cornwall and Devon to more recent developments, such as the rain floods of 1935 that left the centre of the city under two metres of water, and the emergence of surfing as a sport from the lifesaving clubs established here.

Another exhibition, Taranaki Naturally, includes a look at the fascinating natural history of Mount Taranaki and our interactions with it over the centuries. These include the tale of Ginger the cat, who followed a group of mountaineers in 1917, thereby becoming the first feline to conquer the summit in 1917; the incredible effort to build the first huts in the national park; and the tragedy of a climbing disaster in 1953.

On top of this, the city has a wonderful array of architecture, monuments and street art that make a wander through the centre a pleasure. However, nothing quite beats spending time watching the surfers tackle the waves in the area. There are plenty of surfing spots along the coast here (the main road out of town is known as Surf Highway 45) but with Fitzroy Beach on our doorstep it was wonderful to be just a few minutes walk away at any point. I wandered down to the beach on a few occasions from sunrise to sunset and there were always surfers out on the water.

Surfing at sunrise

I could happily have spent much longer in New Plymouth. There were plenty of museums that we didn’t get to check out, largely because many of these are only open at weekends so our stay from a Sunday to a Thursday didn’t provide any opportunities. Nevertheless, our stay in New Plymouth was fabulous. I’m glad we got a chance to see just how much the city and the surrounding area has to offer.

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Wonders of Tongapōrutu

A side trip to Tongapōrutu, a drive of around one hour from New Plymouth along State Highway 3, delivered more than I could have ever hoped for and helped make up for the disappointment of not getting to see Mount Taranaki in all its glory. These sights may not be on the international tourist trail, such are the riches of the natural world in New Zealand, but they are well worth taking a detour to see…

The two surviving rockstacks from the Three sisters

On stepping down from the car park onto the beach we discovered that the first section was more black mud than black sand, but once beyond that the ground firmed up and we could start to appreciate the astonishing way that the elements have carved and sculpted the rocks here. You can only gain access at low tide, so any visit has to be carefully timed. The tide comes back in quickly here and can easily cut the route off behind you.

The most famous sight here are the two (formerly three) 25 metre papa mudstone and sandstone rock formations known as the Three Sisters. The third rock formation collapsed in 2003, but these labels are probably quite meaningless with rock formations continually being cut from the cliff face through erosion to replace those that have gone before. The effect of erosion was amply demonstrated by a clifftop fence dangling over the edge.

Among the array of other spectacular sights here are the elephant rock (now trunkless following a collapse in 2016); a sequence of spherical boulders emerging from the cliffs; a striking hexagonal pavement among the rocks and some fairly rough spherical boulders among the black sands. I was far from alone in haring around taking photos while the tides permitted.

The location of the sights at Tongapōrutu are carefully documented in the NZ Frenzy blog/guidebook, which is where I first found out about these. More recently, the sights were covered in the articles World famous in New Zealand: Tongaporutu, North Taranaki (Stuff, February 10th 2019) and Back your Backyard: Tongapōrutu – a view worth making the turn off for (Stuff, August 12th 2020).

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The elusive Mount Taranaki

One of the most appealing aspects of any stay in New Plymouth is the opportunity to enjoy the many wonderful walks on offer around Mount Taranaki (2,518m), a dormant stratovolcano, and in the lush native forests of the Mount Egmont National Park that surrounds it.

Mount Taranaki is reckoned to be around 125,000 years old and last erupted in 1790. There has been no volcanic activity since the 1850s, but the regional civil defence team stress that an eruption is not a matter of if, but rather, when. Statisticians reckon there is a 70% chance of an eruption by 2050, increasing to 90% probability by 2090. A sleeping giant then, with the potential to cause considerable disruption to the region.

Tin tea caddy with image of Mount Taranaki (known at this time as Mount Egmont) at Puke Ariki Museum

You really don’t need to go far to get a sight of the mountain – it was perfectly visible from where we were staying in Fitzroy, always a majestic presence in the background. On top of that, the mountain has captured the attention of many an artist, featuring on symbols, street art and products around town. Puke Ariki Museum has a wonderful collection of objects with that iconic mountain image from badges to tea cups.

On our arrival in New Plymouth we headed out on the open road, driving south towards Cape Egmont along State Highway 45. After passing through Pungarehu we turned right onto Cape Road for the last five kilometres to the lighthouse at the end of the road. I love visiting lighthouses on any occasion, but what is particularly special here is that you can get incredible photographs of Mount Taranaki and the Cape Egmont Lighthouse together.

The lighthouse marks the western-most point of the Taranaki coast. The lighthouse was erected here in 1877, amid the Taranaki Land Wars, with armed police on site to enable construction work to be completed. The lighthouse was finally lit on 1st August 1881 and automated in 1986.

Today, the lighthouse makes a striking sight in its incredibly isolated location. There was no access to get up close to the lighthouse when we visited, but super photos are possible from the clifftop track. Unfortunately, when we arrived the clouds had completely hidden Mount Taranaki. We stayed a while, parked up at the end of the Cape Road, enjoying a picnic as the golden hour approached.

Eventually the clouds cleared just enough to give us a glimpse of the volcanic peak. Although it wasn’t the stunning shot that had drawn me to this spot, it was still more than I thought we would get and I was immensely grateful.

Cape Egmont Lighthouse and Mount Taranaki

The following morning we set out by road to explore the national park. From the road we could see that Taranaki was cloud-free and stopped to take a shot before continuing on our way up to Stratford lookout, hoping to get a nice clear shot, but the clouds had already swept in to hide the peak.

A similar story unfolded a few days later when I tackled the walk up to the sacred waters of the Pouakai Tarns, which can provide stunning views of Mount Taranaki reflected in the water if you get perfect conditions. Sadly, the mountain was obscured by cloud when I reached the tarns, despite the snowy peak being visible on the drive to the end of the Mangorei road for an early start. I stayed for an hour, hoping that a gap in the clouds might give me a shot of the peak, but nothing ever quite lined up.

Nevertheless, the walk up the Mangorei Track to the tarns was a pleasure. There were only a handful ahead of me on the way up (around 8am) but plenty more coming up as I headed down. I reckon it took close to two hours each way, so plenty of exercise. It was uphill all the way – lots of steps, but all set up with well maintained boardwalks, so nice and easy. It was a little bit slippery after the recent rainfall, with some tree trunks to be stepped over and some sections sitting in pools of water, but nothing too troublesome.

Poukai Tarns (with Mount Taranaki obscured by clouds)

Other folk I spoke to said they had been in New Plymouth for over a week without ever getting a clear view of Mount Taranaki, so my experience was far from unique. I really can’t complain as I’ve had an awful lot of good luck in my travels around New Zealand over the past 10 years. In the end the clearest shots of Mount Taranaki were the ones I got from opportunistic roadside stops or from walking a few metres from our accommodation in Fitzroy!

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This gallery features some of my opportunistic grab shots from my attempts to see Mount Taranaki and the gorgeous forest you walk through on the way up to the Pouakai Tarns.

The wreck of the SS Gairloch

An afternoon drive to Ōakura brought us to one of the more unusual sights in the area, the rusting wreck of the S.S. Gairloch (Glasgow, 1884). The S.S. Gairloch ran aground off Oakura on the night of 5th January 1903 while en route from Kawhia to Opunake laden with ninety tons of cargo (mostly made up of sacks of sugar from the Colonial Sugar Company and 10,400 feet of sawn timber from the Kauri Timber Company) and a crew of twenty.

The wreck of the Gairloch

The ship foundered on Oakura Reef in what contemporary reports described as a calm sea, but hampered by thick weather, just before midnight. A double disaster had already been averted, with the Gairloch coming close to colliding with the S.S. Ngapuhi (Dundee, 1900), another ship owned by the Northern Steam Ship Company. The crew made it safely to the breakwater by boat the next morning with the benefit of daylight.

A court of inquiry later ruled that the Captain had been hugging the coast too closely in the bad weather. In the stormy weather that followed the timber that had been stored on deck was strewn across the beach, but most of the cargo was salvaged. The ship, however, was condemned as a wreck. After the official salvage operations the wreck was sold on and the mechanical parts stripped.

A fading photo from the collection at Puke Ariki shows the Gairloch aground at Oakura. The wreck began to break up in the autumn of 1903 and has steadily deteriorated ever since, helped along its way by souvenir hunters. Only a little is left of the wreck today, but it undoubtedly makes a striking sight on the black sands and still attracts the curious. On the day we stopped by a steady stream of visitors made their way out to the remote spot.

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A walk along the old Egmont branch line

Among the many wonderful hikes on offer in the Mount Egmont national park, one of the newest is the York Road Loop Track. On offer is a fascinating slice of industrial heritage, long since reclaimed by nature over the decades.

The York Road Loop Track opened in the early 2000s and takes in a section of the old Egmont Branch railway line (1908-1951). The branch line was built off the Marton–New Plymouth line at Waipuku (between Tariki and Midhirst) and ran for around 9 miles to a crusher and foot station serving a quarry on the slopes of Mount Taranaki (then known as Mount Egmont) producing aggregate for roads in the region.

The York Road Loop Track

Today, a walk on the loop track takes around 3 hours at a measured pace. The route takes in the site of the former barracks; the hulking concrete remains of the crusher used to process the rock brought out of the quarry; the old concrete piers from one of the eight bridge built to carry the line across the Little and Waipuku rivers; the sand trap, a concrete lined water tank filled with water from the dammed Manganui River, which was then used to power the turbines of the crusher; and the foot station at the end of the line.

The industrial sites are kept clear so that you can get some appreciation for the scale of the operations once conducted here. At the sand trap you can clearly see the handle to operate the valves. Information boards are provided along the route, highlighting some industrial remnants that are well hidden.

The walk was most enjoyable but after the recent storms trees had fallen across the path in a few places, some boardwalk bridges were almost flooded over and at one point the map didn’t seem to tally with the numbered markers – a number 6 marker appeared on the main pathway, rather than up a side path as the map suggested, confusing me for a while.

The old concrete piers from one of the bridges

The route on to number 7 on the map from the point of confusion was a tad tricky, necessitating a walk along a ledge hugging trees. I was not sure whether there was an easier path that was washed away, but at first I was quite dubious that I was going the right way. It looked like a dead end and I was still quite doubtful that I had gone the right way until I saw more boardwalk ahead!

The York Road Loop Track may not have the stunning natural spectacle of other walks in the national park, but it certainly deserves its place in the catalogue of interesting walks around these parts.

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Goblin forests and waterfalls

Our first full day of sightseeing from our base at Fitzroy brought us to the Egmont National Park, where we sampled some of the long established walks and viewpoints that have been astonishing visitors for many decades.

Wilkies Pools

The highlight was the walk along the Wilkies Pools track, taking us through lush goblin forests to the stunningly clear waters from the mountain which cascade down a series of lava formed pools. On a clear day you can see the mountain looming over the top of this, but the clouds were masking all of that on our visit. The recent heavy rainfall meant that the loop track was rendered impassable (with a fast flowing stream covering the stepping stones that you need to cross) but it was easy enough to go back the way we came.

Other walks took us to the Dawson Falls viewpoint and through the goblin forest of the Kamahi Loop Track. The walks are all mapped out on an excellent Department of Conservation leaflet for Dawson Falls and East Egmont Walks which is incredibly well maintained and signposted on the ground.

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Dreams of New Plymouth

Over the past decade I have been travelling around New Zealand while visiting my in-laws, taking in many of the major sights that the country has to offer. On this trip we decided to do something a little different and visit New Plymouth. The initial plan was drawn up during the long lockdowns of 2020 in the UK, with the preparations for a future visit helping to keep me sane. I can’t explain how good it finally felt to step foot in the city.

Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth

New Plymouth may not be on the main international tourist trail, but there is so much that appeals about a stay in the city. It has recently been named the world’s most liveable city for a population of between 75,000 and 150,000. On top of that, New Plymouth has a gorgeous coastline, with popular surf beaches and a terrific coastal walkway; easy access to Egmont National Park with Mount Taranaki at its heart; and some superb museums and galleries.

Our flight from Auckland on a domestic Air New Zealand flight (on a ATR-72 600) took just over half an hour. The airport is located just 10-15 minutes drive from Fitzroy in the suburbs, where we were staying, with the city centre another 5-10 minutes drive further on. Our apartment (in the wonderful The Residence Fitzroy) was just a few minutes walk from a viewpoint looking out over Fitzroy Beach.

After dropping our baggage we stretched our legs with a walk to the spectacular Te Rewa Rewa Bridge (2010) which has been much photographed. If the conditions are in your favour you can get a shot of Mount Taranaki framed by the ribs of the bridge. Unfortunately, it is currently undergoing a 55 week long repaint and is currently partially covered in scaffolding with occasional closures as the work progresses.

Te Rewa Rewa bridge with scaffolding

The repaint of the bridge is expected to be finished in late 2023 and once complete it is reckoned that it will not need re-painting for another 15 to 20 years. To be honest, the clouds would have prevented the shot even had the scaffolding not been present on our visit! In any event, nothing could dent my happiness at finally being here, feeling the sun on my face and the breeze through my fingers, thinking back to the months locked down at home dreaming of this day.