New Plymouth NZ (north island) / Egmont National Park

5hrs in car, was so glad when we finally arrived!! We are staying in this really nice hostel, they are a great little dog called Vincent but also 2 cats!!!! Paul has been suffering a little but seems to be ok, well no hives yet but have got the paper bag on standby!
Weather isn't that great, we came here so that we could go hiking at Egmont National Park (Taranaki)..we did set off but when we arrived it was hailing and visibility was terrible, so instead we came back sorted out our laundry, saw the sights of New Plymouth and bought a couple of souvenirs, well our first actually! We have done the coastal walk here, which was delightful apart from the wind, we saw the famous wind wand in action, didn't rate it that much..bit of an eye sore!!
The lady at the hostel is into making things out of flax, its what the Maori people used, she was showing us how last night and Paul managed to make a fish..argh..Its very sweet..tonight he is making me a head band!!! Just the 2nights here at New Plymouth, off to Turangi tomorrow so that we can do the Tongariro Crossing, a well known day walk..apparently the most popular one in NZ!!