Mount Taranaki (or Mt Egmont if you're a local!)

An amazing morning - beautiful sunshine and an incredibly calm Tasman Sea.  I mention this as apparently one or two other places around Taranaki had quite a bit of rain this morning.  I feel incredibly fortunate that the good weather seems to be guiding me on my adventures.

It's true to say that today circles have been a feature......

The first circle was a long and s-l-o-w drive around Mount Taranaki taking in a few surf beaches and glorious views of the mountain from north, south, east and west along the way.  My plan - as I hinted at yesterday - was to try a particular shot involving the mountain ("I need a volcano for this!") which would necessitate me being due east of it when the sun went down.  My circumnavigation of the mountain was perfectly orchestrataed and left me with plenty of time to fine-tune my location and maybe even have tea whilst I was waiting.

That's when circles #2 come in.

Having decided on what I thought would be a good vantage point I set out in search of the land owners to ask their permission.  I pulled into the driveway of the nearest house - a small dairy farm - then walked up the driveway to talk to them.  2 large, ferocious sounding dogs ran towards me but (lucky for me) they stood a wee way off and simply barked.  I tentatively edged towards the open back door, calling out a friendly greeting as I went.  No answer.  I knocked and called again........nothing.  So back down the drive I went, hopped into the van, reversed onto the grassy verge to turn around then WHUMP!  I found myself sitting at a very odd angle.  I tried to drive forward.  A hissing sound.  I opened the door and looked to the back to see my right rear wheel up to the axle in a hole.  The hissing sound was mud being sprayed everywhere as the wheels spun, thankfully not a puncture.  I could see instantly that there was no way I was going to be able to shift it without some help.  After a period of chiding myself, cursing then calming down, I went over the road to the only other house in the area.......my knocks and calls echoed around another deserted property (funny that in both houses all the doors and windows were open.  Clearly a very trusting part of the country.)

The only thing left was to either wait until they returned or call the AA for assistance.  I opted for the AA.  Over an hour passed before the towie arrived and pulled me clear in just a matter of seconds.  In the meantime, the shot I had hoped for had escaped me.  The great news though was that there was no damage to the van and the hole I'd gone down only looked slightly the worse for wear.  I left the farmer (who still hadn't returned) a note:

"Dear property owner, I am very sorry for the damage I have caused to your grass verge........."

I left him my number and a few apologetic words.  The towie said he didn't think the farmer would even notice let alone care! 

So this shot was taken after I was freed from a vantage point I'd originally thought would work.  It isn't what I had planned but I think under the circumstances, I'm very happy to have been able to get it!

Time for bed :)