Now in New Plymouth in the Taranaki Peninsula but rain and mist all day so hoping for better tomorrow. This is a photo down to the Emerald Lakes descnding from the top of Mt Tongariro. Great walk and I was lucky with the weather; it was clear all day without the winds they predicted. We've come around Highway 45 from Wanganui stopping last night in sight of Mt Egmont and next to the black sand dunes at a small recreational campsite near Manaia on the south coast. The cliffs and dunes there were quite different from what we've seen previously with layers of volcanic debris. Also we know where all the House Sparrows from England are, they're here! Everywhere they're busy nesting, chirping away and with the Yellowhammers, Skylarks and numerous Goldfinches, it is like the countryside when we were younger. We're not sure what we'll do next as we plan to canoe a stetch of the Whanganui river soon but this depends on the weather as we'll be camping at DOC sites and with rain, the river will be up. Otherwise we'll go to the east coast and south.