Mon 18 Jan - Opunake and New Plymouth

Christine is still existing in the clothes she arrived in and the volcano hasn't erupted yet!
Today started with an early morning walk as we had not slept well. The cliff top is only a 10 minute stroll from R & J’s place so we completed part of the coast path walk from ‘Lion’s Lookout’ back to Opunake beach. It was somewhat disappointing to discover that the ‘Lion’ refers to the group who erected the wooden lookout rather than to any animal or geographical association. After breakfast we had a walk down to the town library where there is free wifi access and the ability to download my blog! After lunch on the deck at R & J's – the weather was fine and sunny with temps in the low 20’s (centigrade) – we headed off to a local beach for some fun with the surf boards. It was then on to New Plymouth to do some clothes shopping for Christine – not very successfully – and on for an early evening meal in a downtown pub. The day was rounded off with a visit to the famous Pukekura park for an outdoor Country and Western concert followed by a viewing of the ‘Festival of Lights’ also in the park. The concert was somewhat disappointing, comprising 3 solo artists taking it in turns to sing Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson numbers to a Karaoke backing system! Still we had a good laugh, particularly at the German who tried hard to stir the audience out of its rigor mortis with some poorly received jokes!