My Holiday in New Plymouth New Zealand

We all love going on holidays and I am certainly no exception. My husband Jonathan works hard in his job and I have RA, Fibromyalgia and OA so a break is certainly needed. I have lived in New Zealand for 10 years but there is so much of this beautiful country that I have not had the privilege of seeing.

Of course I knew we had a limited budget and limited time as we all know the cost of living crisis since COVID has been immense on a global scale. But I scoured the internet looking for somewhere that we could get to for a two night stay. Being an extremely indecisive person I spent hours and hours before picking New Plymout which is just under a five hour drive from Wellington where we live. I dont drive so Jonathan hired a car as we live in the city and parking is expensive. I finally decided on a place called Little Church Bay where there was an old church that had been turned into a holiday home. Looking at the photographs I knew it was the place for us to spend a romantic holiday for my 65th birthday which was on the 12th of September. I booked the 11th-13th of September on Booking.com which I would highly recommend for accommodation.

Although I was looking forward to it, suddenly I felt old not mentally, but physically and this train of thought did not help my mental health. Doing some deep reflection I realised that I was blessed to be 65 because so many people do not reach my age. Also 65 is not old, there are so many things in life I still want to achieve, places I want to visit. Anyway I started feeling more positive and the day dawned for our trip. I didn't even mind the length of time we took to get there. We meandered and stopped twice on the way for food and coffee. Me stretching my legs and Jonathan getting a break from driving. I looked at the b eautiful scenery on the way and said to my husband how nature is so beautiful even the rain which we encountered on the way.

We finally arrived and my face lit up as I saw the beautiful place we would be staying in. We could see the ocean from our window we were on the beach in no time. We relaxed with a cup of tea and coffee. I had the tea being a true Brit lol and started to relax into our stay. We went to get some food and then had a pizza which was to die for at Hells Pizza. What more could we ask for. Even the bed was comfortable and I slept like a log for the first time in ages.

My birthday dawned and with it beautiful sunshine and though not hot as we are only at the start of spring here in the southern hemisphere. We did not make any stringent plans but decided to go with the flow after a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages, hashbrowns and baked beans we were fully satiated. I wanted to visit Mount Taranaki which is the picture above and though I would not be able to walk it. I wanted to witness it first hand its snow covered caps with a mist descending above us. It was truly nature at it's best in our eyes. It was cold but we looked from the car and took pictures before descending back down to New Plymouth.

Jonathan and I love mini golf and whenever we go away we have to play. We had such fun. I lost but to me the enjoyment is not in winning but in actually enjoying yourself which we both did. Next we went into the shopping mall where Jonathan bought me some beautiful earrings. Then we explored the beach and walked for a while basking in the warmth of the sun before having a beautiful meal at The Salt Restaurant which was situated in The Millenium Hotel. If you ever get to New Plymouth I would highly recommend it. I felt so blessed and even now we are back home , the memories will stay with me for a long time.

Too soon it was time to leave, but I knew this would be the start of new adventures. I guess part of the reason I am writing this is to extol the virtues of visiting New Zealand, but also to show that in reality age really is Just a number and we have to keep exploring because there is so much out there if we take the time to really look and appreciate nature and beauty with the one's we love. My husband is one in a million and sometimes it takes a holiday away from everyday life to really appreciate our blessings.

To anyone out there thinking of visiting New Zealand. Come you will not be disappointed!!

Alexis Mundy