Long ago, in Maori legend, Taranaki belonged to a distinguished tribe of mid-island volcano gods. However, after being caught with Pihanga, the beautiful volcano goddess near Lake Taupo, he was banished to the west coast and forced to exist in exile, forever enshrouded in a cloud of tears. And indeed, moody and unpredictable he is!
This morning, Taranaki is not bashful and is fully open to the morning sun. Yesterday's clouds have burned off and its massive, pointed form calls out like a siren. I am lured.
By 8:30a, I am leaving the North Egmont visitor center along with other eager hikers from many countries, handsomely fit and half my age. The friendly lady at the DOC desk said "bring lots of water, figure on 8-10 hours return and make good use of yer day cuz we got a gale coming in..." With that in mind I start up the 35degree incline that stops only at the top.
Service road becomes grass slopes above treeline, becomes wooden steps up thru rock gullies, becomes sand and scree slopes, becomes hand over hand thru sharp lava rock chunks, til after 3 hours I emerge around a corner to the caldera filled with ice. A short, sandy runup leads to the impressive 8300ft summit rock pile and 360 degree views from ocean surf across farms, forest and inland to the Tongariro peaks 100 miles away. Wow!
The descent is steep and takes longer than the ascent. Strong cycling muscles got me up but became extremely fatigued doing the hundreds of steps down. Reached the car at 4 pm.
Some gormet pizza, Erdinger draft wheat beer and a jar of ibuprofen provide the necessary painkilling measures. And the gale arrives on schedule...
Meanwhile, back in New Plymouth, I (aka Ellen, aka Ralfa, aka Other Ralf) take the morning to catch up on reading a field exam for a student back home, then walk the beautiful stream trail to the beautiful miles-long coast walking trail, to the beautiful museum and library complex. Kiwi's don't spend alot on themselves -- e.g. lots of middle class people don't have great teeth -- but they sure lay out $$ for public amenties. (see for instance the very cute green plastic dog poo-holder pic we posted yesterday -- it's on the coast walk). The library's holdings on Maori are not super but fill me in a bit on the language and i watch a good documentary in the museum about the green energy future of the Taranaki region, which is currently prosperous due in part to off shore natural gas resources. Of course the guy the interview from Shell thinks those will last a looooonnnng time.
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