#kawhia

[hellhoundlily]

[koala-chaser]

West coast: Waitomo and Kawhia You may recognise the name of this place! Waitomo is the location of the most famous glowworm cave system in NZ, it's where we came on all those hobbiton tours to see the glowworms. I figured I probably didn't need to do that again, but the road wound out west passing a few points of interest so I figured I'd head that way anyway. First up: Mangapohue natural bridge. A rock formation that forms a bridge (I think) 17m over the river below. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was stunning! The walk out there wound along the edge of a canyon, towering cliffs mixed with native trees. I was there in the rain, but if anything that only added to the atmosphere. The bridge itself is amazing. Bigger than I'd expected, the path goes up underneath instead of over the top and there's something incredible about standing underneath it. This whole cavern, carved out of the rock by a river that seems so tiny in comparison and so much more life than you see in the caves, with trees forcing their way out of cracks and moss growing everywhere. Even the stalactites are different, formed from moss instead of just water, giving them a more bulbous shape. I did the loop walk around to the car park, then went back down the canyon for a second look. There's something very special about it. Second: Piripiri caves. This is a normal cave, there's a structure at the start with steps so that anyone can get in for a look. No lights, so you have to take a torch. A few DOC Rangers were down when I was there, their torches were much better than mine, and they also showed me where to climb down to get deeper into the cave. There's a small path after a rock scramble, leading to a pitch black part of the cave (no glowworms here!). It was a bit too muddy to keep going on after the path, but it looked like the cave system keeps going. Third: Marokopa falls. This was my real target, it's been marked on my 'to visit' map for a while and it didn't disappoint. Beautiful big waterfall, amazing scenery. Only disappointment was that due to the rain and the time of year, the path down to the base was impossible. (Although I was getting wet at the viewpoint, so likelihood is even walking to the base would get you soaking wet from the spray.) I decided I didn't want to go back on myself, so I followed the mountain road up north around an amazing natural harbour and up to Kawhia, a surprisingly busy town considering it's a long way from anywhere. Kawhia has a hot water beach, similar to up the coromandel, but this time in black sand. It was a bit late to go digging, but the beach was beautiful anyway and the water didn't seem quite as painfully cold as everywhere else when I went for a quick paddle in the waves. Back on the main road, I realised I hadn't actually made it very far north at all, and had to push on into darkness on the motorway to make it to my camp. Although it felt like forever in the traffic jams, it was only about 6:30 when I got there (winter means night comes on early!) plenty of time to cook and sleep.

[hellhoundlily]

[hellhoundlily]

[ratotahi]

[thiswillnotdo]

2022_04_17

[knowledgepronto]

Kawhia Beach cleaners | nzherald.co.nz Kawhia Beach cleaners | nzherald.co.nz

[avrockerman-blog]

#BridalVeilFalls #Waterfall #River #Kawhia #Raglan #Waikato #NewZealand #instapic #winter #travelbug #instamood #picoftheday #instatravel #instalike #followforfollow #like4like #instafollow #likeforlike #traveladdict #traveling #travelpics #exploreeverything #traveltheworld #travellife #wanderlust #travelnewzealand #instagram #dji #drone #friends (at Bridal Veil Falls (Waikato))