{"id":12631,"date":"2026-01-31T21:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=12631"},"modified":"2026-01-31T21:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:59:09","slug":"saturday-31-january-mt-taranaki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/31\/saturday-31-january-mt-taranaki\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday 31 January Mt Taranaki"},"content":{"rendered":"

End of January already! Where is the year going??<\/p>\n

Had a terrible nights sleep, as expected. I didn\u2019t bother with earplugs because when trains or trucks go by the sound reverberates throughout my body, so there\u2019s really no point. If I\u2019d realised how paper thin the walls were, and how I could hear everything the people in the adjacent unit were doing and saying, I might have had second thoughts. On the plus side, it wasn\u2019t too hot overnight, and there was no noise from the 24 hrs Maccas next door.<\/p>\n

After checking out we went back to the art gallery to pick up the swag we\u2019d bought the day before and headed off onto The Forgotten Highway. Our first stop en route was a lavender farm, where we had decadent coffee and muffins out in the garden. Decadent because they were sweet flavoured lattes, mine gingerbread and Samantha had lavender. Delicious. It was late morning and already getting hot, with bumblebees happily foraging amongst the lavender bushes. Heaven. We bought some expensive smellies and then set off again.<\/p>\n

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The forgotten highway is a long windy backroad route between Taumarunui and Stratford, and one of the last main highways to be paved over, within the last year or so. At first it\u2019s quite dramatic, with some impressive scenery and bush, and a long single lane tunnel called Hobbit\u2019s hole.<\/p>\n

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But, it gets old really fast. It would be very isolated living along such a road. Imagine taking the school bus each day! But I guess I\u2019m just a city girl. By mid afternoon we had reached our destination, a lodge on the slopes of Mt Taranaki, which used to be known as Mt Egmont when I was a little girl.
\nWe checked in and then drove the short distance up to the top car park and walked to the ski field which is now accessed by a fabulous brand new foot bridge. We were all dressed in preparation for a mountain trek but other people looked like they were on the way to the beach. I think we were overdressed but there\u2019s probably a happy median there somewhere.<\/p>\n

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There was just time for a quick nap before dinner, the last night of our trip. The meal was delicious, in a lovely location, in the bush with kereru flying around the trees. Samantha and I have been here before in fact, we stayed here with Simon on a road trip 25 years ago, during which I discovered I was pregnant, with what urned out to be twins although we didn\u2019t know that yet.
\nAfter dinner, having successfully dissuaded Samantha from ordering dessert because we were both too full, we went for another walk in the dusk. The Kamahi loop is through what\u2019s known as the goblin forest, with a very magical vibe.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

End of January already! Where is the year going??<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3hJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":584,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/07\/provence-continued\/","url_meta":{"origin":12631,"position":0},"title":"Provence continued","author":"Interloper11","date":"October 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Day three, 34 kms, hilly. How many times can an atheist say \u201cThank God for ebikes!\u201d before they get struck by lightning? Asking for a friend. The perched village of Gordes. Have to be careful not to get too close to that cliff edge - apparently a wealthy Chinese businessman\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BF263EEE-187D-4289-9F60-6373072F2BB2-225x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12585,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/29\/wednesday-28-january-ohakune\/","url_meta":{"origin":12631,"position":1},"title":"Wednesday 28 January Ohakune","author":"Interloper11","date":"January 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Had to wake up Samantha three times this morning. She may no longer be a teenager but her body doesn\u2019t seem to have twigged just yet. After our leisurely start it was midday by the time we drove up the mountain to the Turoa ski field. The weather report had\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_5185-170x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12600,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/thursday-29-january-ohakune\/","url_meta":{"origin":12631,"position":2},"title":"Thursday 29 January Ohakune","author":"Interloper11","date":"January 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"We have been very active today, biking 40 kilometres in total. My bum isn\u2019t sore but my thighs feel the burn. On the recommendation of our Havelock North family, we arranged to hire two bikes today and take a shuttle to Pokaka Road, to start the Old Coach Road trail.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_5125-768x1024.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_5125-768x1024.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_5125-768x1024.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12616,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/friday-30-january-taumarunui\/","url_meta":{"origin":12631,"position":3},"title":"Friday 30 January Taumarunui","author":"Interloper11","date":"January 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s hot. I\u2019m lying in bed trying to have a late afternoon nap. The fans in all the rooms should have made me suspicious when we checked in. The one in my bedroom is on but only serving to blow the hot air aggressively around the room. I\u2019ll give up\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7551,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/14\/stormy-weather\/","url_meta":{"origin":12631,"position":4},"title":"Stormy weather","author":"Interloper11","date":"February 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"We had fabulous weather in January, but we\u2019re paying for it now. I took these photos at the local park yesterday. Two more trees down, to join the ones that came down in the December storms. What is it with the weather lately?? It\u2019s become wild and unpredictable. It\u2019s as\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/87A4FE09-4019-45B4-8560-D43E9BD273B1-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8626,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/06\/thoughtful\/","url_meta":{"origin":12631,"position":5},"title":"Thoughtful","author":"Interloper11","date":"January 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Just sitting down with a glass of wine on the 6th of January, ready to watch something trashy on Netflix, and finally realizing my boss told me at my annual credentialling meeting a few weeks ago that the best thing I bring to the department is not being a whiny\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/A990AE4D-0F01-4433-8597-91201D2D09B8-261x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}