We went to New Plymouth for a Taekwondo Tournament from July 24-26. It was a bit of driving for a short weekend, 5 hours one way. On the way there it rained and was cloudy. We went convoy style with another family. We talked with them over walkie-talkies. Dennis loved having friends around at our McDonald's stops.
We stayed at a holiday park (campground with cabins and kitchens). Our room was bunk style with the bathrooms across the driveway. It was a bit chilly going to the toilet in the middle of the night, but the payback was getting to see the stars and the milky way. In the morning while I was taking my shower and I heard birds chirping. I wondered if some kind of alarm was going off. Then I noticed the shutters over the door. It was the birds serenading me.
We did well at the tournament. Tom and I did pomsae, aka patterns or forms. We did not win any medals though. Dennis got a medal for sparring. He did not win his match but he did well. He also did pomsae and jumping front kick.
On Sunday we walked on New Plymouth's coastal boardwalk (bottom left photo). We went to two Egmont Visitor Centres to get a closer look at Mt. Taranaki. Dennis just about jumped out the car window when he saw the snow. He enjoyed playing with the snow and ice. The mountain is simply stunning. Maybe in summer we'll come back and climb the mountain; we hear it can be done round trip in a day.
Going home it was clear so we got to see Mt. Taranaki on our right and Mt. Ruapehu in the distance on our left. Both had snow on top! Yes, I get excited about snow topped mountains; they're such an awesome sight!
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In that picture of the three of us you can see Mt. Ruapehu on the horizon to your right (that would be over Chris' left shoulder.)
What looks like water at first glance is a patchwork of dairy farms in the Taranaki district. It is so much more impressive in person than through a cheap digital camera.
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