New Plymouth

November is a month for new places - New Plymouth!

New work gets me out an about a bit more these days, so here are some pictures of New Plymouth. 

I really like this place, having never seen it or touched it before having to go there for work. The locals are friendly, hard-working, and ever so cynical about the beauty of their surroundings, from the black oily coastline with its tumbling surf, shoot-green lowlands, and the spectacular maunga Taranaki - ancestor, adopted name of the region and its people. There's money and dealing done here, mainly in energy and farming. The local beauty is just a side hustle.

The city is also arty - home of the Govett Brewster and rippling-chrome Len Lye galleries, and whalebone/tree fern Te Rewa Rewa Bridge. It's rather photogenic; don't think I've used my camera phone so much in one day

And like smaller places it has quirks. Intriguing second-hand shops, old architecture, and curios. I haven't even mentioned the Bowl of Brookland (because of work I haven't had the time to visit it!)

I will return - soon, of course, for work. But hopefully not too long before I can bring the family.