Taraniki region

Tags: New Plymouth, New Zealand, Taranaki, Te Araroa, hiking

Date: December 18, 2024

We left Taupo and continued southwest towards the region around Mount Taranaki. On the way we did a short stop to do a little hike on a section of Te Araroa — The Long Pathway. Te Araroa is a hiking route going from the northern point of the North Island to the southern point of the South Island of New Zealand. It is 3,000 km long and every year several thousand people walk the whole route, a feat that takes 3-6 months on average. We spent only a couple of hours hiking but did get to see some nice forest:

Some very characteristic plants in the New Zealand forests are the tree ferns:

Maybe some sort of hoof fungus on a tree trunk:

In the Taranaki region we visited the largest town, which is New Plymouth. We walked a part of the 13 km long Coastal Walkway, from the center of town to the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge, from which you can see Mount Taranaki (on the few days when it's not hidden in a cloud):

The bridge crosses the Waiwhakaiho River:

Rocks with probably two different species of shags:

Of the 36 species of shags or cormorants that exist worldwide, 12 of them live in New Zealand.

View along the Coastal Walway towards the center of New Plymouth:

The next day we went on a hiking trip in the national park surrounding Mount Taranaki. Formerly it was called Egmont National Park and now the name is Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki. It is the second-oldest national park in New Zealand dating from the year 1900.

The volcano is shrouded in mist and fog most of the time. Here is a morning view from a little ways up the side to the surrounding agricultural area outside the park boundary:

The slopes are completely covered in vegetation:

Waterfall:

Tree covered in hanging lichens that thrive in the humidity:

A stream carving its way through the forest:

The national park has very well tended trails with several hanging bridges over the streams. Here we are in our matching jackets in front of one of them:

And on one of them:

More vegetation and waterfalls:

A cloud rolling over the hill side:

We did manage to see the top of Mount Taranaki in the evening light, seen from the terrace of the house we stayed in: