The best (small) city on Earth?

NEW PLYMOUTH, TARANAKI - 19th January 2010

The United Nations certainly think so. In 2008's "International Awards for Liveable Communities", New Plymouth - situated at the foot of Mount Taranaki on the northern coast of a peninsula created purely by its volcanic activity - scored the gold medal for cities with a population of up to 75,000, while also (unsurprisingly) scooping a separate magazine award as "New Zealand's best city".

I, for one, am certainly not going to dispute the results. The moment you set foot in the town you feel calm, relaxed, nature and human society in a harmonic balance with one another. Looking in one direction, you can watch the waves of the Pacific Ocean come crashing into rocks lining the city's award-winning Coastal Walkway; turn 180 degrees and you're facing the towering presence of snow-capped Taranaki overlooking the relatively modern cityscape (as in the photo I've stolen from Google Images on the right).

Located where it is, New Plymouth is off the bog-standard tourist trail - backpackers en route to Wellington and the South Island tend to head through the middle of North Island via Taupo and Tongarira National Park. However, with the freedom of movement offered by my own wheels, I was able to schedule a visit to see Dale, my second cousin, and finally meet her husband and daughter. After failing to do so for all of the 2 and a half years they lived in Swansea, I found it quite amusingly ironic that I was more than happy to make a 400km detour to see them in New Plymouth, but never once considered driving a couple of hours into Wales!

Lunch was fantastic. Dale's parents-in-law are in NZ for a few months, and between herself and her mother-in-law we had a proper Mangalore-style feast - green curry, chicken, pilau rice - all were savoured as the first proper Indian food I'd had in weeks.

Post lunch playtime with Rochelle (Dale's 3-year-old daughter) involved an imaginary but nevertheless rowdy tea party, before I headed into the town proper to check out the Coastal Walkway as well as Puke Ariki, the (again) award-winning museum-come-library-come-information centre. My hostel for the night is right next to Pukekura Park - a massive affair that combines a botanic garden with the most scenic cricket ground I've ever seen (right), with the coolest open air concert venue anywhere (the stage is in the middle of a lake!!!). Anyway, throughout the summer the park hosts the annual Festival of Lights, with the botanical walkways lit up in all sorts of colour as night falls, accompanied by different acts and performances every night. Tonight featured a model plane demonstration on the cricket ground's outfield, and included model jet engines making the most God almighty noise; and a live set from some band who did some surprisingly good covers of the likes of Elvis, MJ and The Verve (a google search suggests they're called "Tank Stanley and the Acid Collectives", and that they were gonna "blow your mind").

Dinnertime awaited though, and I was back at Dale's for another long missed dinner - classic Chinese takeaway. My stomach sleeps content tonight, before tomorrow's long drive to Wellington...