Green

Tuesday, 20 July, 2004 by Donna V. Whitmore

We began our trek to New Plymouth early after a super breakfast at the hotel. We made numerous stops along the way, a very memorable one being at Waitomo Caves, which is a part of the Maori's land and a sacred place in their culture. We saw a small part of the caves with stalactites and stalagmites, but they also have glowworms that shine from every corner and across the top of the caves. With the lights turned off, it is a spectacular sight.

Traveling on south, I was impressed with the scenery, which is green, green, green! It is every shade of green you can imagine and is just beautiful! We stopped for lunch at an award-winning restaurant, which was another treat - the food was great! I had the biggest meatball I have ever seen with fruit chutney and a salad. Wonderful!

We had been told, prior to going to New Zealand, that we would probably be very lucky to see Mount Taranaki a few times during our two-week stay; it is shrouded in clouds a majority of the time. So, when we rounded a curve in the highway and began dropping down toward the ocean, we were astounded to see, far in the distance, the whole of Mount Taranaki in all its splendor! (Donna and Glenn had explained at dinner the night before that it was a full month after moving to New Plymouth before they first got a glimpse of the mountain.)

It was nearing sunset and ahead of us was a beautiful beach, the ocean and Mount Taranaki, in that order. We decided to stop at the beach and got more awesome pictures of the sun setting. The beach was just as it looked: black, black sand as far as you could see. As we watched the sun set, we knew we were in another land of wonder.

We finally arrived at Witt University and found our new 'digs" very satisfactory: we were to stay in a hostel at Witt, each with our own room, complete with a refrigerator, dishes, glass - and silverware and even food (bread, rice, fruit, etc.), courtesy of the hostel! We also had a bathroom with shower in our room! The only trouble was, most of us missed being with each other, but we promised ourselves to adjust! The hostel was also equipped with a community room, dining area and lounge, complete with satellite TV, and the largest kitchen I about ever saw!

Word for the day: GREEN