On Feb 15, 2024 we docked at Port Taranaki in New Plymouth, a city located on the west coast of the North Island. Our trip to the South Island only lasted for one day, at Picton.

Port Taranaki is the only deep-water port on the North Island’s west coast and plays an important part in the industrial development of the region’s oil and gas resources. From the port area, we toured a 7-mile Coastal Walkway which winds along the coastline, along the city front and its beaches, to the dramatic curved-rib architecture of the Te Rewa Bridge. In the distance was the snow-capped pyramid of Mt. Taranaki, a site sacred to the local Maori.

We then went to a local museum. The Len Lye Center is named after an artistic native son, whose works include a 148 ft. red fiberglass mast that bends in response to the changing breezes. His other works in the museum were large kinetic sculpture pieces.

Below is a picture of one of the islands in the harbor by New Plymouth that we saw while leaving New Zealand for Australia.