Well into the night the revellers partied! New Year with booze flowing and many intoxicated people all shouting and laughing, Of course, we were not one to put a damper on the fun but oh...going on until well after three and trying to shut out the noise made sleep impossible, so two very bleary-eyed slightly hungover bodies emerged from the motorhome well after 9 am.
Undecided at where to go next, to much brain fuddle didn't help, we headed South towards Hamilton. I had noticed on the map one of the many 'yet to' visit waterfalls on the Western side of Auckland, by the Waitakere Ranges and the Goldie Bush Scenic Reserve, so a plan was formed to go see that. Every man and his dog also had the same idea and the parking was a right pain. Down a dirt track with only one way out, the way you went in, turning a larger vehicle took all of Ian's skill. We eventually managed to pull off the road onto a grass verge and walk back to where the 1.5 km walk started.
In North Island, they are suffering from Kauri Dieback, a bit like our Ash dieback in the UK. It was very important that we cleaned our shoes and used the disinfectant spray provided. Hiking has been banned in many places on the Waitakere Ranges but luckily for us the Falls was still open to view.
The walk to the falls was nearly all downhill, all 1.5 km of it. What goes down must come up and boy did my unfit muscles scream during the ascent! It was all worth it though and we got to walk off the overindulgence of the night before.
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| View from the platform |
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| And at the bottom |
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| All 139 of very steep steps back to the viewing platform. |
And wildlife,
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| A better photo of the TUI |
2 comments:
The Kairi trees are certainly magnificent, but one must wonder how they will fare with this disease causing so much damage to them.
I do hope we can catch up while you are here, but we are traveling for the next couple of weeks. Going to New Plymouth, then Whangamomona, Taupo, Napier and ending up in the Wairarapa mid January. What are your travel plans as you head South? We will not return home till about 21st Jan
Hello Jenny, As yet we are very undecided at what we are doing. We will be heading for New Plymouth around the 13th / 14th as we are meeting up with Marilyn and David at Tongaporutu. We will also get to Taupo at some point but as yet don't know when. All I can suggest is you keep track of our progress and take it from there.
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