Discovering New Plymouth has taken us to mountain tops, beaches, and beautiful parks. So, in addition to work (for Des), house and car hunting, we’ve enjoyed the outdoors immensely. The coastal walkway is a favorite bike ride spot. It’s about 11 Kilometers long and at 8 K is the Taranaki Cycle Park. Kai likes the BMX track and rode 3 laps around and took it slow. It’s way steeper than this photo shows! There’s also a full sized velodrome that we skipped.

The other day Kai bought a new basketball and we found some courts in the Fitzroy neighborhood. Turned out it was a place to play Net Ball. Kai learned a few rules- Mostly it’s not easy to land a shot without a backboard! We had a nice chat with a local family. The dad explained the game a bit, likes the Spurs and is a pretty good basketball player himself.

A famous feature in the center of the town is Pukekura Park. There’s a sports field “Sportspark” for cricket and walking trails winding around 2 lakes. I’m still an botanical beginner and would describe it as Jurassic park; lots of huge ferns, palms, something like pine trees, and waterfalls. Below is a short movie of this wild park.

The beaches and waves have been more calm recently- perfect for body surfing and trying out rescue boards!