Playing around
Ten minutes drive out of the city at Ngamotu is the New Plymouth Golf Club’s spectacular par-72 course. Its broad, rolling fairways are lined with huge Pohutukawa trees that from a stunning spectacle in December time. Apart from Mt Taranaki’s presence, which forms a stunning backdrop to the sixth hole, the course has great views of the Tasman Coast. Some golfers reckon the course is one of the of the country’s top five.
The 135m par-three with its lake carry, is the course’s signature hole and is one of four interesting short-holes on this superbly maintained layout that has had around 70 years to mature. Its expansive white clubhouse has a well-stocked pro shop and a friendly bar and restaurant.
The 52-hectare Pukekura Park forms the heart of the city. Around 200 years ago a large acreage of swampy land was set aside for public recreation by a far-sighted man named Robert C Hughes. The park was officially opened in 1876 and was at first privately funded, and the bones of today’s delightful spaces have been nurtured into existence with passion and vision. The park was handed to the borough council in 1929.
Meanwhile, the owner of the adjacent Brookland Farm, Newton King, was developing his land in the imposing tradition of an English Estate. His trustees bequeathed the park to the people of New Plymouth in 1934. It is adjacent to Pukekura Park and the site of the TSB Bowl of Brookland, whose natural outdoor ampitheatre and huge sound shell is one of New Plymouth’s major entertainment venues.
Also on site is the Brookland Zoo which is home to farmyard animals for children, but also houses some interesting exotic animal and birds.
The parks are botanical gems featuring a wide variety of plants and landscapes – from dense native forests to broad lawns and themed gardens. The oldest Puriri tree at Brookland is thought to have been there for 2000 years. The azaleas and rhododendron collection is superb, with 3000 varieties of rhododendron in the ‘dell’ alone.
The Fernery is one of the highlights of Pukekura. Opened in 1928, its clay tunnels are lined with fern and usher visitors into warm chambers full of plants. Others are the Kunming Garden – a gift from the Mayor of New Plymouth’s Chinese sister city Kunming, and the Mishima Gate built in 2001 which celebrates the same sort of relationship with Mishima in Japan.
Te Kainga Marire is a lovely half-acre native garden hidden away in the cul-de-sac of Spencer Place in a leafy suburb of the city. The valley site was once buried in gorse and fennel and blackberry and has been transformed into coastal lowland, fern-filled forest and sub alpine environments – a tranquil and absorbing garden that is subtly textured and coloured with native trees, ferns and strangely shaped sub-alpine plants. It is one of the few private gardens to be awarded the status of Garden of National Significance. Garden lovers should also look out for Tikorangi – The Jury Garden, Woodleigh hydrangea garden, Ngamamaku, Popo and Hallards Gardens and the well-known rhododendron garden of Pukeiti.
For a taste of Taranaki try the fruit winery Sentry Hill outside the village of Lepperton. The wines are produced by traditional methods resulting in clean, crisp and true-to-flavour tastes. Pure fruit juices are also sold. For fresh ideas there is a farmers’ market held every Sunday morning in Currie Street.
The city has a wide range of restaurants and cafes some of the more notable are The Laughing Buddha; Punka Walla, El Condor all in the town centre; the Kauri Cottage at Mt Cook Village; and at Oakura, Snikkerdoodles Café and the slightly rundown but interesting Malaysian Carriage.
In New Plymouth’s St Aubyn Street is the Puki Ariki museum complex. The exhibits in this gallery celebrate Taranaki’s particular character, found in surfing, dairy, farming, energy production and rugby. Beside the Taranaki Life section is the artfully laid out and comprehensive Maori section where Taranaki Maori also tell famous stories about Parihaka and the Land Wars. An enormous model of a prehistoric white shark grins down from the ceiling of the atrium. It is reconstructed from bones that were found near the city. Static displays intricately describe the urban, agricultural, sea and mountain environments of Taranaki, and its volcanic origins.
There is also an excellent section on the offshore oilfields and the black gold which ensures the city’s future. Puke Ariki also contains research facilities, a children’s discovery centre, the City Library, the New Plymouth Visitor Centre and the Aborio Restaurant.
The Govett Brewster is the best known art gallery, recognised for its exhibitions of contemporary art and because it houses and cares for the Len Lye Collection. The famous filmmaker, artist, sculptor with an eccentric and ebullient personality was arguably New Zealand’s most influential modern artist and was the designer of New Plymouth’s iconic wind wand. The Real Tart Gallery close by features a good selection of work by local artists.
At the main entrance to Brett Domain on Roto Street is a signpost that directs you to the three walks within its boundary: Cowling Plantation is 10 minutes through a grove of 50-year-old kauri trees; the Rayward Bush walk through regenerating native forest takes around 20 minutes; and the Lagoon Bush walk takes around 30 minutes and follows denser bush along the Mangaotuku stream to Barrett Lagoon.
One of the defining aspects of New Plymouth is a seven-kilometre path that forms a sea-edge promenade stretching almost the length of the city from the Waiwhakaiho River mouth east to Port Taranaki. The Coastal Walk has many access points and it passes the New Plymouth Golf Club, the Fitzroy Motorcamp, surf beaches, Puke Ariki and the Govett-Brewster Art gallery, the aquatic centre and the boat marina, stone carvings and other public art. The edge of this architecturally acclaimed promenade is lined with large boulders to emphasise the sense of being by the sea. Its centrepoint is the tall, bowing Wind Wand with its alien “eye” watching over the city.
From East End Reserve, the six kilometre-long Te Henui Walkway winds right through the heart of the city following the course of a river through native forest, open grassland, and the city’s cemetery passing various historic points including a recognisable pa.
At Lake Mangamahoe, which is just a 10-minute drive south of the city on SH3, there is a delightful two-hour walk around Lake Mangamahoe. It is well sign-posted and leads around the lake through a working pinus radiata forest, ornamental tree plantings and regenerating native bush. It is steep in parts but there are some great outlooks and toilet facilities along the way.
Happy Chaddy’s Charter’s Daved Chadwick is one of the much talked about characters in New Plymouth. Call at his office at the Ngamoto Wharf and it’s immediately apparent why. The walls are festooned with photographs and memorabilia that document some of this ex-boxers colourful seafaring life. Now he takes people out on a revamped Liverpool Class C lifeboat to visit the Sugarloaf Islands and the seal colony with a spot of fishing on the way. His motto is: “We’ll do anything to make you smile” and I’m sure he cracks it every time. He is also very knowledgeable about the history of the area – tall tales and true – and by all accounts his dog, Twopence, is the most able fishing foxie around.
At Inglewood, about a 15-minute drive from New Plymouth, is the Fun Ho! Museum. It’s hard to miss – there’s a Fun Ho! fire engine sitting on the roof. For over 70 years Fun Ho! toys were a household name in New Zealand. No longer in production, they are now Kiwiana collectables. The toys were first manufactured in a Wellington basement by Jack Underwood and his enterprise grew into a factory with 200 workers. On display are examples of the entire collection of 3000 toys. For the nostalgic, some Fun Ho! toys are still made in the original moulds and they are for sale in the museum’s shop.
One thing that dragged me away from the delights of New Plymouth to drive to its neighbouring city …kilometers away was the promise of a romance, the unlikely site of which was above the public toilets on Stratford’s main street. My assignation with Romeo was at 1pm sharp; for every day at 10am, 1pm and 3pm, chimes from Stratford’s Elizabethan-style glockenspiel broadcast another five minute sequence from the famous tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Accompanied by music, life-size models of the ill-fated lovers slide out from different doorways in the tower as they deliver their star-crossed lines.
The choice of a Shakespearean play is obvious when you consider its author’s birthplace upon Avon. Stratford was dubbed by early settlers Stratford upon Patea and many of its street names are taken from characters and references in the bard’s works. The mechanism of the glockenspiel was designed by local engineers and the figures modeled by Nigel Ogle, the famed entrepreneur of Hawera’s extraordinary Tawhiti Museum. Also in Hawera, if you are venturing that far, is the quirky Elvis Presley Museum.
Staying Over
There are 20 holiday parks in Taranaki, but they vary in amenities from the well- appointed Top 10 in New Plymouth to basic camping grounds in south Taranaki, which are sometimes just grassy paddocks with a donation box.
The New Plymouth District Council owns six holiday parks which are leased out to managers. They are Belt Road, Oakura, Fitzroy, Urenui and Onearo and Wairtara Marine Park. There are also several privately owned parked including the New Plymouth Top Ten Holiday Park, Opunake and Oakura, which all have four-start Qualmark status.
The New Plymouth Council’s current policy on freedom camping is that motorhomes and caravans can park anywhere as long as they are self contained. The most favoured spot for freedom camping is at the port. There are also several DoC camps sites around the base of the mountain, including Lucy’s Gully, Dawson Falls and the North Egmont Visitors’ Centre.
