New Zealand 2009-10  Page 3

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Raglan, on the west coast.  One of the best surf beaches and a great for people watching.

'The Bridal Veil Falls'     Raglan's local 55 metre high waterfall.

The weather on the west coast stayed fine for us as we explored more new places.  It was just great to visit Betty who lived in Chedgrave until recently.  I'm sure all at home will be as delighted as we are to find her fit and recovering well following her recent spell of malaise.

Our lovely friends in New Plymouth also made us very welcome, feeding us well on Pru's wonderful home grown veg and baking.  Kim drove us to see some of the sights too.   The scenery is mostly just too 'vast' to photograph.  St. Andrew's church in New Plymouth where Kim is the minister, is beautiful.  The woodwork inside is mellow and welcoming.  Kim in the Ky...  (I've lost the name) garden.  Prue with friend, Willow.

Mount Egmont or Taranaki, everything here seems to have two names just to confuse the visitors, decided not to make an appearance and remained shrouded in cloud so we left New Plymouth on the Forgotten Highway.  Very dramatic, too large to photo scenery.  I did miss three great shots; one of hundreds of sheep in a compound having been brought off their pasture while a spray plane worked.  Another of a farm with a museum's worth of old implements, trucks and junk artistically arranged around the yard.  The road is narrow and difficult to pull a campervan over safely.  I've fallen off the road once already (last year) so I'm trying not to do it again!  The third; a car parked on the side of the road with a small sign attached to the roof.  It simply said 'Ponga Pot'.  Should I have stopped to ask?

Then we returned to another of our favourites; Rerewhakaaitu (Ray-ray-fack-eye-two) or if you can't pronounce it either, Goose Poo Lake.  These pukekus were tamer than usual, they had 4 babies to feed

	The town of Kawerau is really a surprise.  We've always passed it by but have missed a little gem We bought a forest permit here which allowed us to use the forest roads to get to the Tawera Falls and campsite. Left, the Ruruanga Stream; crystal clear and allegedly stocked with trout that children under 14 are allowed to catch.  We didn't see any! Right, a fern growing on a tree
	The Tarawera Falls The Tarawera river disappears underground and re-emerges at the 65 metre Falls.  The river is crystal clear.  Difficult to see the size or to capture the incredible power of the flow in my pics. Oh, the authorities do not recommend swimming in the area that the river disappears underground.  Too right.

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