The Taranaki (NZ) Around the Mountain Circuit turned into an epic for me! I only got halfway before falling into a ravine on the way north and injuring myself, so the northern side will have to be written up some other time. But meanwhile, here are some thoughts on doing the southern side. Which is what you miss out if, like a lot of people, you only tramp around the northern side of the mountain, handy to New Plymouth, where the popular Pouakai Track and (Northern) Summit Route are located. I decided to go up to Syme Hut, next to Fanthams Peak/Panitahi, which you can see on the left of the featured image. Then I hiked through all kinds of wonderful terrain, before getting lost on poorly signposted and maintained track and injuring myself, and needing to be helicoptered out. Original blog post: a-maverick.com/blog/around-mount-taranaki