Mount Taranaki rises from the flat dairy country of the west coast of New Zealand's North Island like a drawing of a volcano, a nearly perfect cone, 2,518 metres high, often wrapped in cloud and capped with snow. It is also known as Egmont, a name given by Captain Cook, though the Māori name is the older and more widely used. New Plymouth, the city on the coast at its northern flank, sits in the mountain's shadow, with the Tasman Sea on the other side, and the two dominate every view.
The city has about fifty thousand people and a more relaxed air than Auckland. Pukekura Park, a green valley of lakes, ferns and fountains, runs through the middle of town. On the seafront, a coastal walkway leads to the Wind Wand, a tall, slender kinetic sculpture by Len Lye that sways in the breeze, and to the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge, a white arch shaped like a whale's backbone, framing Taranaki behind it. The area's history includes the land wars of the 1860s, whose scars are still part of the region's story, and the more recent gas fields offshore.
Riders have a choice of roads. Surf Highway 45 circles the mountain's southern coast through dairy farms and small beach towns, with views of black sand beaches, surf breaks and the sea. Inland, the Forgotten World Highway leaves from Stratford on the eastern side, a long and winding road through hills and old farm country, with a tunnel carved by hand and a strange republic of its own. Roads up the mountain itself, such as Egmont Road, climb through forest to the national park with views over the plain. Weather can change in minutes, with cloud closing the mountain and rain sweeping in.
New Plymouth has fuel, food and rooms in plenty, and Waitara to the north adds more. Fill up before the Forgotten World Highway, where services are scarce. Summer is the best season, though showers can come any time.