Parliament tour & Drive to New Plymouth

We got up early and walked to the Beehive Parliament. We had a 30 minute guided tour inside. Unfortunately we couldn't take any photos inside. We got to walk in to the debating Chamber, banquet Hall and the press room. It was quite interesting. The chamber looked smaller than I thought it was going to be but still impressive. The Chair is the focus of the Chamber. The Speaker chairs meetings of the House of Representatives from this seat which was given to New Zealand by the British Parliament. There is a British coat-of-arms on the wall above the Chair that symbolises New Zealand's relationship with Great Britain. The chair was covered in Sheep's wool, very New Zealand!

We got back about 12pm and went to apex to hire a car for our North Island road trip. We asked for a small hatchback the cheapest option. In the end they gave us a white Nissan Tilda, medium sized car. Its an old car with wooden interior and beige seats. We've named the car Roy. Can't complain though for only $126 between the 3 of us for 10 days!

It took us a long 5 and a half hours to drive to New Plymouth. We got stuck in a bit of traffic along the way. When we were near New Plymouth I could already see Mount Taranaki. I couldn't believe how big it was. It was strange to see it on its own with no other mountains surrounding it. We checked in to our hostel Ariki backpackers this evening. Seems okay so far. Comfortable bed and reasonably clean bathrooms. We cooked spag bol this evening. Having an early night tonight ready for a hike to Mount Taranaki tomorow.Read more