DAY TWO AT NEW PLYMOUTH

 Well.... after dinner last night we came back to our room.

I lay on the bed and ummm..... fell asleep!  It was only a little after 9 pm!  I woke sometime in the night and had a piddle, but basically that was me for the day!

Never done that before.  Must have been tired and a little tipsy.

DINNER.  OMG, that was the best meal/service I have ever experienced.

HANDS DOWN the best food I've ever had in a restaurant.

ABOVE:  We started with a New Zealand Sparkling White wine.  It was modestly priced, but exceptional.  Stew and I drank the entire bottle between us.  

I would have happily had more, but then Stew would have had to roll me back to our room.  Two glasses is my limit.

ABOVE:  Entree:  Caramelised Onion and Feta bread.  Delicious.

ABOVE: We both opted for Duck for our main.   I had it with a salad, Stew had it with veges.

To say that duck was amazing is an understatement!  So soft and tender, succulent and just .... OMG delicious.

As I said to Stew, it had to be a young duck, not some old hag who'd been around for 10 years and spat out dozens of ducklings!  lol

ABOVE:  Our duck....  cooked with sultanas.  SO, so delicious.

ABOVE:  Our dessert.  We both had the Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, cream and berries, with a Salted Caramel Sauce.

A.... MAZING!  We had to wait a while for it as it was baked as we waited.  It was worth it.

Every single aspect of our dinner was PERFECT.

I cannot recommend The Plymouth's inhouse restaurant enough.

AND the service could not be faulted.  

I personally thanked the Chef and the staff for such an exceptional dinner.

I would drive down here JUST for dinner!

Right.  Back to today.

It's 8.20 am, we both slept in.

We are heading off on the SURF Highway 45 for the day.

That is the road that goes around the coastline, south of New Plymouth.

We are going to drive around the entire base of Mt Taranaki.

ABOVE:  There's a map of our intended trip today.

ABOVE:  yesterday while at the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge, we walked past a small group of people talking with an old man in a wheelchair.  He was telling them about 'THE BEST PIZZAS' in New Zealand, just south of New Plymouth.

Stew went and asked him where that was?

So, tonight we are having THE BEST PIZZAS in New Zealand, at Back Sands Restaurant in Oakura.

And... that's me for now.  Gotta get dressed, and head off for the day.

1.37 pm.  On the Dawson Falls track part way up Mt Taranaki.

ABOVE: Exhausted. Could NOT get all the way down to the base of the falls as it was too steep for my knees to cope. So we just did the Lookout.

Right.  It's 4.23 pm, we are back from another lovely day!

ABOVE:  Oakura, Black Sand Restaurant, where we are going for dinner this evening.  It's about 15 minutes south of New Plymouth.

Right on the beach too.

Next was this cute little lighthouse, a MINI version of the Cape Egmont Lighthouse.  On the coast, off State Highway 45, before Pungarehu. Middle of the wop wops.

See the rock by the car?  Yep.  Taking it home for our rockery.

ABOVE:  Then a bigger lighthouse, Cape Egmont, off State Highway 45 at Pungarehu.

ABOVE:  Small lava 'domes' formed by a massive lahar 22,000 years ago, from Mt Taranaki.

There are thousands of them scattered all around Mt Taranaki.

ABOVE:  Poor Stew, I made  him get this rock too.

ABOVE:  I think he felt very conspicuous taking it up to the car.  😂😅😆

ABOVE: Opunake.  A surf beach.  Quite a nice place.  Had a lovely chat with a man who  had just come in from fishing.  

ABOVE:  Hawera.... we only stopped for a piddle and a photo.  The water tower is gorgeous.

ABOVE:  The only 'decent' photo of Mt Taranaki today.  There was too much cloud from other areas.

ABOVE:  We decided to go to Dawson Falls, which is in the foothills of  Mt Taranaki, in the Egmont National Park.

ABOVE:  The view from the Visitors Centre, where you can embark on any number of easy, medium and hard trails.  

ABOVE: The walk to where you can view the falls from the top was enough for me!  Still quite a few steps, but not very far thankfully.  Very pretty falls I must say.

ABOVE: This is the point where you could choose to go on to the upper viewing platform, or go DOWN to the bottom of the falls.

There was a sign warning people about it being very steep and slippery.

That was enough for me to say NO WAY.

I could see people coming back up, and they were literally CLIMBING up the steps, they were that steep.

ABOVE:  our last stop was a Possum factory and shop part way between Stratford and the Mountain base.

We bought a possum pelt for our stool at the front door.

I can't wait for Marley and Coco to see/smell it.  I'm picking Marley will go ape shit at it.  Or want to eat it.

Time will tell on that one. 😊

ABOVE:  Almost forgot this!  A gorgeous, rustic fence and gate at the possum place.

We are now just killing time until we head out for dinner.

8.45 pm:  And we are home from dinner.  My 'review' of Black Sands Restaurant will be tomorrow, as I'm tired and just want to put me feet up.

Catch ya tomorrow.