Feets
  • 🍃 Nō te Upoko o te Ika Wellingtonian
  • 👓 Tangata mohio Nerrrd
  • 🌈 Takatāpui Gayyy
  • 🦶🏻 Karekau āku hū Barefoot AF

New Plymouth

2026-01-17 01:15 GMT+13

I went to New Plymouth for the first time yesterday with my partner, a friend, and one of their daughters. Here are the highlights.

Feets standing in front of the clock tower in Stratford, taken on the way to New Plymouth. The lens was covered in rain drops.
Feets standing in front of the clock tower in Stratford, taken on the way to New Plymouth. The lens was covered in rain drops.

Puke Ariki Museum: nice. Slices of local history, wildlife (shark! moa!), and a section on Dalvanius Prime. There were some interactives for kids

Feets standing in front of a recreation of a Moa skeleton.
Feets standing in front of a recreation of a Moa skeleton.
Feets standing in front of some kiwi models.
Feets standing in front of some kiwi models.
Feets standing in front of a shark model, suspended from the ceiling of the museum.
Feets standing in front of a shark model, suspended from the ceiling of the museum.

Festival of Lights: peak! I loved the Pukekura Park, very pretty, enhanced by the light shows. The park itself is lovely with mini-lakes, Japanese bridges, and plenty of winding paths. Seen here: Ember, with smoke emanating from between a recreation of a campfire.

🦶🏻 Barefoot report: lots of unpaved paths with tiny stones. Feet are very exfoliated now. Ouchies.

The Ember installation in Pukekura Park, with light-filled tubes arranged to resemble a camp fire. Smoke emanates from between the lights as they pulsate between off and glowing red to resemble burning wood.
The Ember installation in Pukekura Park, with light-filled tubes arranged to resemble a camp fire. Smoke emanates from between the lights as they pulsate between off and glowing red to resemble burning wood.
Glowing light installations that resemble plants. Glowing light installations that resemble mushrooms.
Glowing light installations that resemble plants and mushrooms.

Brooklyn Zoo (a petting zoo plus some monkeys) was fun though it seemed a bit too small. There were monkeys, parrots, some lizards and frogs, and a small farm. I 💙 kunekune pigs, though the constantly bleating goats came in a close second

Two sleeping kunekune pigs, one brown, one black and white, resting against each other on the concrete in the sun.
Two sleeping kunekune pigs, one brown, one black and white, resting against each other on the concrete in the sun.

While we were there, we also had dinner at Sushi Ninja, an authentic Japanese restaurant with bits of everything. The prices are a bit up there but the food was delish. I had a sashimi platter, served on paua shells, then tuna katsu, salmon tataki, and a sampler of five kinds of umeshu (plum wine). Finished off with yukimi daifuku (mochi ball with ice cream).

A selection of five umeshu in shot classes. Tuna katsu, small slices of tuna with breadcrumbs on the outside, with a side of lettuce and onions.
Salmon, tuna, and white fish sashimi served on pāua shells, themselves on a blue platter with ginger and wasabi.
Salmon tataki. Small, thin slices of salmon sitting on a plate arranged like a flower. Yukimi daifuku, mochi balls with ice cream inside, with a drizzle of mango sauce.
A selection of dishes at Sushi Ninja: umeshu, tuna katsu, sashimi, salmon tataki, and yukimi daifuku.