Festival of lights

On my hike on Mt. Egmont yesterday I met two Swiss people and met them again at the campsite in the evening. They were on their way to a festival. I didn't want to go anywhere else yesterday and since I'm staying in New Plymouth for 2 nights, that wasn't a big deal.

This morning the Swiss came by again and told me that the Festival of Light was really great and that I definitely had to go there. Ok, so I have something planned for tonight. I researched online that the park where the festival takes place is a 45-minute walk from the campsite.

In the late afternoon I set off, first strolled through the city, then had something to eat and then went to the Festival of Lights.

In New Zealand, shops usually close around 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. at the latest (in very touristy places sometimes a little later), cafes close around 3/4 p.m. (but almost all shops are open 7 days a week). When I set out, all the shops were already closed.

Nowadays I can't gain that much from cities anymore. At the beginning of my journey I photographed almost every house because I thought it was so beautiful and so unique. Nowadays, most houses are nothing special anymore. So that I hardly ever take photos of cities anymore. This is also the case in New Plymouth - a small town after all 😉.

I'm always looking for something to eat that doesn't consist of burgers, pizza or fries. That's very difficult here, and finding something vegetarian is even more difficult. Today I at least manage to find something that I haven't eaten here before: rolled & breaded chicken breast fillet with stuffing and sweet potato casserole. Sounds delicious, and it was. 😀

After dinner I make my way to the park. There is still just under 20 minutes on foot between them. When I get there I see a bus with the inscription “Festival of lights” drive past me. So there is a shuttle bus, that could be an option for the way back.

It's just after 7 p.m. The festival doesn't start until 8:30 p.m. There is a circular path in the park with 11 stations where trees/plants or art installations are artfully illuminated. Since I have time, I set off for the final installation and then run to the front later, because I don't want to be back at the campsite too late.

And the path is actually really great, it goes along densely overgrown terrain and the changing lights, plus changing music. The whole thing creates a very nice atmosphere in the park. At the end of the circular path there were even illuminated swings.

I now had 2 options for the way back:

1. walk the entire way back (approx. 45 minutes)
2. Take the shuttle bus to the city center and then walk from there (approx. 30 minutes)

Although I didn't know exactly where the bus stopped in the city center, I chose the 2nd option. On the bus I asked the driver whether there were several stops in the city or just one. The driver said that there is only one station but he can let me out wherever I want. I waved him off and explained to him that I was at the campsite and that it was too far away from his route and that it wasn't a problem to walk. Since the festival had only started 45 minutes ago, I was the only passenger and the bus drove and drove and drove. I looked at the map on my phone and noticed that the bus had already passed through the city center and was just before my campsite!!! How great is that please??? The bus driver actually drove me straight to my campsite. That was sooooo incredibly nice.