We were a bit stiff the day after the Tongariro crossing, but tried to work the kinks out of our systems by playing golf in Whakapapa. The main hotel there has a course spread out in front of its large picture windows and with Mount Doom as a backdrop we set out on the nine holes.

As you can probably see from the photos, we weren't very successful at limbering up - my posture looks extremely stiff! In fact, just walking around was enough of an effort let alone trying to get the ball in the hole. There was no way we would have managed a full length course.

After that, we hit the road for Taumaranui, simply because the camp there had our preferred internet connection and we had a load of photos from Tongariro to upload, emails to catch up with etc. The town itself is fairly ordinary with nothing particularly to commend or condemn it.

While at the camp, we met a few interesting people. There was a couple we had met back in Ahipara on Ninety Mile Beach - he was Canadian, she was American - and they remembered us because they had eaten some of the tuatua I had dug up from the sand.

There was also a guy called Mike from Tottenham. He was about my age and was just completing a trip around NZ via a mix of public transport and hitching, carrying his tent and clothes on his back. Next stop was Cambodia.

Three days of Taumaranui was enough and we loaded Blanche up again and embarked on the so-called Forgotten Highway towards the west coast. Although there are leaflets pointing out the history and scenery of the area, it's all pretty random really - just a collection of not-so-old sites. However, as we neared the end of the highway, we suddenly got what we were looking for - a clear view of Mount Taranaki in the distance.

We had wanted to visit Taranaki ever since we saw it on the map - a near-perfect circle which looked as though it had been dropped into the middle of a semi-circular promontory.

When you get to see it, Mount Taranaki is like a larger version of Mount Doom in that it is a near-symmetrical cone, but instead of being positioned next to other mountains it is in the middle of flat coastal farming land. As such, it has an overawing, almost regal effect on the surrounding area which is completely dominated by this singular geographical feature. As you gaze up, it seems to have three layers: green forest around the base and part the way up, then a yellowish section of scrubby grass, and finally the blackened rock and scoria of the final peak. For much of the year, the top is covered in snow, but we saw only a few patches.

As the weather was turning windy, we didn't attempt to walk up the mountain for a few days. Instead, we drove around the Taranaki area, stopping at towns such as Stratford, New Plymouth and Opunake.

The latter is a surfing location and with the wind battering in strongly, we could see why. While staying there, we met a South African guy who was living in a tent while waiting for his new house to be built. His job, by the way, was to sell bull sperm to farmers. Well, someone's got to do it!

After the wind dropped and the bright sun reappeared, we decided to go up Mount Taranaki rather than just sit around and admire it. Unfortunately, Katy was by then feeling the effects of the Tongariro crossing on her knee, given that she had cut out the ibuprofen. That meant that the tougher walks, such as up to the mountain's secondary peak, weren't going to happen. (Which was a great relief to me, as I didn't fancy scrambling 500 feet up scree slopes and then back down again while in the middle of a five-hour hike!)

Instead, we took advantage of some of the roads which lead quite a distance up the mountain. From there, we could take in the spectacular views which each offered of the surrounding countryside. In the distance, we could see Mounts Ruapahehu and Doom (or Ngauruhoe to give it its proper name), mirroring the opposite view which we had had of Taranaki while walking the crossing.

We did go for what was advertised as a two-hour walk from one of the stopping points, but it was a little disappointing. It lasted only a single hour, even with Katy's knee holding her back a little, and was almost completely through the forest rather than showing us more views. We couldn't complain though, as we had been spoiled for those over the past few days. And at least we gave ourselves a decent workout.

Overall, however, we would have to say that Taranaki is a rather overlooked part of New Zealand, which most tourists don't reach. That's a shame as it's a beautiful, spectacular area which is well worth a visit.

Richard