The Last Samurai in New Plymouth, New Zealand

What does the Last Samurai movie starring Tom Cruise have to do with New Plymouth, New Zealand? Instead of it being filmed in Japan, the movie was filmed in the Taranaki region because Mt Fuji resembles Egmont or Mount Taranaki. See the filming locations of Last Samurai.

We walked and toured the Pukehura Park which is 128 acres of garden, playground, outdoor theatre, water features, forest and a zoo. We saw the oldest tree in the park, a 2,000 year old tree known as the puriri tree.



Aside from the Last Samurai movie, a lot of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand. If you're interested in seeing some of the props used in the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies, be sure to check out our post in Auckland.

Near the shoreline, is the Wind Wand, a 48m tall structure that moves with the wind. Made of fiberglass, this kinetic art is part of New Plymouth.


Interesting sculpture from the walkway. When I went to taking a picture of it, two persons decided to photo bomb my photo.


This port was used in the Last Samurai movie and where our cruise ship was docked.


In town, I found this interesting. Later I found it was a restaurant serving South Indian food.


We took an Uber to the Te Rewa Rewa bridge. Later, we decided to walk back from the bridge to the meeting point in town for the shuttle back to the ship. There is a Coastal Walkway that serves both pedestrian and cyclists. The bridge looks like a big whale's ribcage.


I couldn't help but ask the Uber driver whether it snows in New Plymouth. He said it does but rarely does the snow settles. He said by June and July, it is cold enough to snow. I told him our best months at home is June and July, when it is 25 to 30 degrees celsius.

Have you been to New Plymouth, New Zealand? If so, please leave us a comment.














Location: New Plymouth, New Zealand

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coldest Frap at the Tallest Starbucks in Busan, South Korea

Image
If you're headed to Busan, South Korea, don't miss one of the world's most stunning Starbucks location - where modern architecture meets breathtaking ocean views.Whether you're a caffeine-loving traveler chasing that perfect expresso or a digital nomad scouting instagrammable cafes in Busan, this Starbucks delivers more than just coffee - it's an experience at the tallest Starbucks in the world. When we were in Busan, South Korea, we visited the highest or tallest Starbucks in the world. It was on the 99th floor of the Busan X The Sky Building near Haeundae Beach. To get there, we had to pay to get on the observation floor then walk up a set of stairs to Starbucks.  The elevator was fast. Inside, they showed a video on the walls and on the ceiling of a hot air balloon. I think that was a distraction and it worked. In seconds, our ears plugged and we were up on top. The elevator opened and we were on the observation floor of the Busan X. Nothing out of the ordinary w...
Read more

Best Fish and Chips in a Small Town, Picton, New Zealand

Image
Picton was one of the smallest port we had ever visited but it was more than quaint. When we looked outside our port window, we saw piles and piles of logs. These logs were stacked up high and there were plenty of them.  A shuttle was provided to take us into town. The explanation of the logs were that these logs were going to be sent to China to be used to create toothpicks, chopsticks and matches. That was surprising to hear.  After being dropped off, we walked along the shoreline until we found this bridge that spanned the marina. This was the Coathanger bridge. Originally built in 1907 as the Victoria Domain bridge, it was replaced in 1950 as the Coathanger bridge.  The Picton marina was peaceful and really fun to walk through. It was hard to imagine the population was only 7,990 and with us visiting, the population was close to 10,000 for the day. We kept walking along the shoreline, occasionally glancing into the water because the water was so clear. On one glance, ...
Read more

Palace of the Grand Master in Rhodes, Greece

Image
When we left the ship to explore Rhodes, we walked along a road that had the ocean on the right and the city wall on the left.  It was a quiet day like if it was a holiday or something. We crossed the road and walked up to a cathedral that was in ruins. There were a lot of feral cats there and nothing else. We continued to explore the area and found a large square and a long cobblestone road that led to a large medieval castle. The Palace of the Grand Master is where the administrative center of the Order of the Knights of Saint John were. It was built in the 7th century as a Byzantine citadel but in 1856, lightning strucked a gunpowder magazine and exploded. It killed many people and caused the upper floors of the palace to collapse. The lower floors survived but nothing on the upper floors did. It wasn't until 1937 and 1940, the upper floors were rebuilt without knowledge of historical significance or design.  History buffs think the Colloso of Rhodes used to stand on top of...
Read more