New Plymouth

Two weekends ago we took a day trip to New Plymouth.  It is about an hour north of where we live in Hawera and is the largest city in the Taranaki region.  It was a pleasant little trip.  One sight we had been interested to see was the Glockenspiel in Stratford.  The characters emerge from the clock four times a day and we'd always missed it by an hour either way.  We finally made it in time on this trip and took some photos.  It was something to see, once.

After the show was over, we finished the drive to New Plymouth and visited their nice museum, Puke Ariki.  It's a mixture of local history, science and art.  There is a small section in the museum detailing the Taranaki wars between the European settlers and the Maori in the 1860s.

A carpenter's view of NZ wood species

 The basement had a display of local art including some works from local carvers.

A detailed toolbox holding a single chisel

 

Jack and I went for some ice cream while Laura and Steven took a dip in the local hot springs.

Soaking it up

Sucking it down

Jack is forever on the lookout for nice flowers for his mommy and he found a pretty purple one for her.  He even helped me find one to give to my lovely Laura.

 On our way home, we snapped some photos of classic lenticular clouds above Mt Taranaki.