New Plymouth, New Home

Jenna: The city of New Plymouth has been our home now for almost three weeks. I think the HR manager at work said it best: "New Plymouth doesn't have a lot, but it does have one of everything." There aren't four McDonald's...but there is one. There aren't fourteen malls...but there is one. And one of everything is pretty much all you need. After all, it has one mountain, and one ocean...

Mitch pretty much summed up what I felt upon coming to New Plymouth in his last post...I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect, but I DID know what I didn't want. I actually felt the same way as Mitch: what if our new home was too quiet? Too dirty? Too rough around the edges? What if we won't like it? I couldn't verbalize these fears because I was afraid if I said it out loud it would make them true.

I felt at ease the moment we settled in on a pub patio with Victoria and Sophie. It was a beautiful day, my coworkers seemed warm and welcoming, and the ocean was within sight while the mighty Mount Taranaki watched over the city. I already knew my fears were gone: this place was going to suit us just fine for the next twelve months.

My office building is located directly across the street from the ocean. My coworkers and I often eat at the waterfront at lunch time. Our temporary accomodation provided by WorleyParsons was just down the street of my office, making the commute short and exploring the city centre amenities easy. The main drag, Devon Street, is lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. New Plymouth has a 10 km Coastal Walkway that stretches from the port all the way to Bell Block, a smaller community up the coast from New Plymouth. A tall red arching pole with a ball at the end called the Wind Wand stands watch over the walkway at the city centre. Every day the walkway is teeming with people out walking, running, biking, or just sitting and watching the surf break on the rocks. The Taranaki region, or "'Naki", is known for its large surf.

The first four nights in New Plymouth had us drinking half-priced cocktails on a private patio, exploring Pukekura Park by nighttime for the Festival of Lights (the large inner-city park is lit up in all different colors while bands play at various stages), and climbing Paritutu Rock (an old lava chamber that sits near the port) for a view of the harbour and the city before enjoying a swim at East End beach. By the time I started work on Monday morning, I felt as if the city and I had introduced ourselves to each other and become fast friends. As I write this, sitting in our flat that sits adjacent to Pukekura Park and five minutes' walk from work, it's hard to imagine that we could have ended up in a better place for us. I think, quite possibly, that it's going to be very hard for us to leave this little city by the sea.