Si's Year Out! (Plus Europe! Plus Morocco!): Another Country!!

We headed to the West coast and took the scenic drive along the coast around Mt. Taranaki, another big (doormant) volcano, to New Plymouth. We got a couple of nice views of the snow-capped volcano but by the time I had the chance to stop and take a picture it had been covered by clouds! We stopped at a beach on the way round, eating fish & chips while watching the waves, and went to a park with loads of birds before reaching New Plymouth. We camped out by the beach and had a walk on the black volcanic sand. It was weird walking on black sand, which sparkles in the sun, like someone had inverted the colours or something!

Anyway, after all that driving there wasn't actually much to do in New Plymouth so the next day we drove straight to the volcano and took the road as far up as we could. From about 1000m up we could see up to the top (which was again covered with clouds) and down over the city. The climb to the top was 8 hours and there was a lot of snow so we didn't try and climb the volcano and instead headed inland along 'The Forgotten Highway'...

Hugging the winding road was a railway that used to transport huge amounts of coal from the mines in the area. When the coal dried up, everyone left! So, along the road, we saw lots of disused mine shafts and mine related buildings which had a bit of a ghost-town atmosphere. However, the highlight of the trip was the small town of Whangamomona, which became an independent republic after disagreements with local councils!! At the 'boarder' is a guard station and you have to show your passports!! When we arrived it was unmanned so we were instructed to proceed to the hotel for immigration and passports! After having our passports stamped and reading a little about the town (who's presidents have included 'Billy the Goat' and a poodle) we set off on the final leg of the forgotten highway journey...