Early the next morning Anna and me had our last drive of our Noth Island Tour together when I brought her to the ferry station. After saying goodbye and us both being sad but excited for the following days at the same time, I started my way alone.
And it was very strange. Not only because of the fact that I had to organise the route by myself and try to cope with the bad connection the application on my device had but also because all over a sudden it was very silent. No one was sitting next to me talking or laughing. There were no more words about Justin Bieber and I could not share my fun facts about the world anymore. All over a sudden it was very clear that the following two weeks it would be exactly like this.
I struggled my way out the city traffic and ended up in a traffic jam that I left to have a first stop to calm down even before nine. I enjoyed the nice view and continued my way as soon as the traffic situation got better to continue my way.

My destination was the district of Taranaki but I needed to stay in the middle of the way overnight at Koitata, where the campsite that seemed far away from the rest of the world. There was no staff at a front desk as there wasn’t even a front desk. You put your money with the form that requires your vehicle registration number and your contact details in a post box.

There were not many people around and I reached the campspot faster than I had expected but that gave me the chance to explore the seaside that was nearby.

It was not a typical beach as there was a sandbank right in front of the it and also there were a lot of boles.

The area of Koitata was also the very first time that there was a really bad network connection so that it was barely possible to contact anyone. The only place I could send messages was the beach and so I spent some more time there after exploring to let my family and friends know that I am okay, because they were concerned as this was the first day on my trip that I was completely alone in the car. But when the sun set, I went back tot he campsite as I did not wander around in the dark alone.

The next day I continued my way and reached the Egmont National Park as I wanted to see a famous Hollywood star. But on my way I crossed a town that caught my attention. It was called Stratford and not only the iconic street names such as ‚Lear Street‘, ‚Romeo Street‘ and ‚Hamlet Street‘ referred to Shakespeare, also the big clock tower seemed tob be sent from a historical Britain.

Using the South entrance to the national park that lays at Stratford’s end, I drove uphill on windy roads for a long time. From time to time I was not even sure if I would end at my destination. But then, even though he was behind the clouds, as he seemed not to be in the mood of showing himself to the world that day, was no one less than Mount Taranaki, who is considered to be the second biggest volcano in New Zealand and a relatively young one.

He starred in The Last Samurai together with Tom Cruise. And if you are a little bit confused now that is absolutely legit because the plot takes place in Japan. Mount Taranaki has a conical shape which looks alike the famous ‚Fudschijama‘ in Japan. Because of the fact that it was cheaper to produce the movie in New Zealand, the producer Yoko Narahashi decided to let Mount Taranaki represent the Japanese original.

I decided for a hiking track through the lush greenery that takes you around the volcano.

When I came back to my car I continued my tour and followed the Surf Highway to end up in New Plymouth. Arriving at the campsite I knew already that the track at Mount Taranaki would not have been the last one oft hat day as the outlook was stunning.

I followed the Coastal Walkway to go to exlpore New Plymouth’s beautiful seaside.

On my way back the sun begin to set and the interplay of colours were extraordinary.

That night I went to sleep after a journey between classical Victorian drama, Hollywood stars and outlooks that were not yet in a blockbuster but abolutely deserved to be in one.