Have you ever woken up still tired and not wanted to get out of bed? Of course you have - everyone has! (erm.. going to work?) but what about the days off? We all look forward to our time off work but then again at the same time, we’re probably all somewhat guilty of a little ‘sleep over-indulgence’ every so often. In our personal experience however, we find that managing to get up and start the day early(ish) usually pays off and results in our day being much better than those when we opt to have a lay-in. Not only that, but we believe that this is a much healthier way of life - yay!
Besides, for us anything other than getting up early results in a delayed start to the day because someone (we won’t name them) likes to spend a long time having his breakfast and coffee in the morning. What we’re saying is that if we ever have to be somewhere before mid-day, we’re getting up before 8... really.
The Tupapakurua Falls were just half an hour away from us and so feeling tired but motivated, we dragged ourselves from the bed determined to start another adventure, and wasted no time getting ready for the exciting day that lay ahead. The weather was good and we were going to once again make the most of the whole day.
2 O’clock... ok, so maybe not the ‘whole’ day but at least most of it we arrived at the start of the track. Yep, you guessed it... Liam and his breakfast happened, but anyway, the journey there was nice and quick - taking Fisher Road which although made of gravel is not something to worry about. If you don’t like gravel roads then walking from the National Park Village should only take around 30 minutes. We may have had another fairly late start but the sign at the beginning of the walk notified us that in around 20 minutes, we would reach the Taranaki Lookout and later on after, get to the second lookout where a beautiful waterfall would be waiting for us as a reward for finally getting out of the room.
So what’s it like?
The first part of the track is fairly easy and it’s the type of track that would be great for stretching your legs after a long drive. Short, and with good views, it’s a great all-rounder that combines simplicity with ‘value for money’ in a nice bitesize package. These types of energising yet reasonably gentle walks are great if you are short on time.
There is also something a little unusual about this walk that we noticed just a few metres in. Sitting by the side of the track was a collection of buckets, each filled with gravel. We discovered that this route is currently being upgraded by the local community in association with the DOC, and in a slightly unique way too. You see, the gravel is used to repair and improve parts of the track further down.. how? Well the idea is that there are seven ‘drop stations’ for the buckets spread out over the track and by picking up a bucket at one of the drop stations and carrying it for just a few minutes, eventually all the gravel will be transported to the desired location(s). What a great idea!
This is of course purely voluntary and there is no obligation whatsoever to carry a bucket of gravel with you, but going back to what we said about an energising walk.. well this one really can wake you up! Us being advocates of a healthy lifestyle we decided to carry two buckets between us, somehow choosing an uphill section every time we did this. During these times, Sabina was in charge of taking the photo’s - well it’s much easier when you have both hands free... wait what?
As we know, the signs made by the DOC aren’t always the most accurate (thinking back to Tama Lakes) but this time thankfully the estimated timings were very reliable. It actually took us the 20 minutes advised to reach the first lookout even though ‘we’ were carrying the buckets throughout the majority of this time.
Taranaki Lookout may be the highest part of the track but don’t let that fool you into thinking that you will be done with ascending; the track alternates between up and down sections and eventually becomes more challenging during the process.
Before progressing further then you may want to spend a little time at the lookout because the view is fantastic. The palm trees stretch out for miles in front, extending out towards the horizon and reminding you how secluded you are. In the far distance is Mt Taranaki which will be visible on a clear day. Although we could spend a long time looking out over the tree-tops we knew we were there to see the waterfall up close and we still had over an hour ahead of us, so not wanting to miss out, we got moving again.
”From this point, the track becomes more rugged, suitable for more experienced walkers.” - DOC
As the sign suggests, from this point the track does increase in difficulty, but it’s more than doable if you have at least average health and wear suitable shoes. The fact that you’re reading this means that even Sabina made it so if you’re wondering, you’ll be fine. Back to the walk, and after two hours of climbing and descending we reached the second lookout point in our journey. We were standing at the edge of a canyon, watching the water trickle off the edge of the cliff opposite and disappear into the depths below. The forestry beneath gives a sense of hight but despite overlooking such features we couldn’t help but feel a little let down by the surroundings. Maybe we’ve been a little spoilt over time but it seemed that this wasn’t quite the reward we had earnt after completing a fairly long and in some ways challenging hike.
Still, we spent a little time admiring the view and gaining more experience with the cameras. The thing is with these viewpoints that aren’t necessarily awe-inspiring, is they make great opportunities to play around with your camera settings. Given the circumstances, we weren’t really too concerned with getting amazing shots, but somewhere like this is a great chance to hone your photography skills without having to worry about missing out on lots of perfect pictures. When you think about the locations this way it definitely makes the situation better.
So after messing around for a bit we were getting ready to turn back, but that’s when we noticed there was more to be explored. The orange signs that marked the track were still going on further and like the curious type we are, it didn’t take long for us to start following them again...
This is where we fell in love with the track!
From this point, just after the second viewpoint everything changes and the track becomes something amazing. Had we not have seen the marker signs or decided to head back anyway, we would have turned back completely unaware of what we were missing out on. Luckily, our curiosity got the best of us and led us to a great surprise, something which should be mentioned early because in our opinion, it’s much, much better than the second ‘lookout’.
We don’t know why this isn’t mentioned as something along the lines of ‘the third and final viewpoint’ of maybe even ‘the grand finale’ because we think that this is actually the highlight of the track. Standing on a raised platform with steep drops all around, the panorama at this third stop is nothing short of fantastic. Better yet, the view isn’t restricted to just being in front of you and stretches round in both directions for a breathtaking 180-degree experience.
However, we won’t say any more so if you’d like to find out just how spectacular it really is, you’re just going to have to go there yourself. So that’s the ‘grand finale’, which means usually this would be the part of the story where we go on to cover the journey back and all the funny things that occurred on our return to the car right? Well, not yet...
We were pretty satisfied with the afternoon and felt like we had got what we came for, with a little extra on top too. We were beginning to make our way back to the carpark when Sabina spotted a rope leading down to the other side of the hill and trailing out of sight. Was there more? Had we not even got to the finish yet, and in fact the pièce de résistance was still to come?
Well, in actual fact Sabina had recalled reading about a goat track that continues on to the bottom of the waterfall. Despite being briefly mentioned on a sign at the start, it seemed to go unnoticed that there was a way to get even further on - perhaps it was because the rope signalling the start of the way down was almost out of sight and also partially covered by foliage, therefore only visible to incredibly short people or those with a Marauder’s map.
This less-explored part of the track should take another 20 minutes but you should plan for up to 30 and keep your eyes open - not only is the goat track steep and tricky but it is very easy to lose sight of the orange markers once you get down. We eventually got to a stream where we assumed the track had finished. There were no more orange markers in sight so instead we followed the stream in hopes of a result. To our expectations, we soon caught sight of the waterfall.
For the second time that day, we fell in love with the track. Standing directly beneath the dripping water was as relaxing as it was fulfilling. We spent around an hour at the bottom of the falls and only left because the sky was beginning to slowly darken. If we didn’t leave now we would have to endure the entire walk back in the dark and given it’s difficulty in certain parts, that probably wouldn’t have been the wisest thing to do.
With that said, by the time we made it back to the second lookout the sun was already dipping behind the horizon and so, not long afterwards it got dark... very dark. In fact due to the lack of any nearby lighting and the dense tree cover that enclosed the track it was just about as dark as can be. On this rare occasion though, thankfully we had a torch with us, or rather Liam did... but we share right?
We walked on through the dark trying to use the light from one small torch between us. This wasn’t the easiest thing to do but we persevered for a long time, trying our best to help each other out. The continuous walking though was taking a toll on both of us and although Liams legs would normally carry him for days, we sort of forgot to feed him. This was possibly the biggest mistake that we could make on a long walk because without food, Liam quickly deteriorates into a ‘hangry’ lethargic, obnoxious nightmare with the motor skills of a badly wounded snail. However you are imagining that, trust us - it’s much, much worse.
“It could be worse, it could be raining” - something that Sabina said in an effort to cheer Liam up, about 3 seconds before it started to rain. Awesome.
All this combined was something that no amount of planning could ever prepare for - hiking through a dense forest at night with a tiny amount of light, in the rain, and with as near as makes no difference... a monster for company. The entire time Sabina was praying that we wouldn’t get lost, while simultaneously Liam was struggling to think about, or indeed do anything at all.
Miraculously, we didn’t get lost and made it back to the car after five and a half hours of walking, mostly in the dark. Immediately upon arrival, Sabina reached for the emergency food in the glovebox which this time happened to be a large pack of cheese puffs... you know the type you are supposed to share between a few people. Well they lasted all of two minutes... Watching Liam eat them was a bit like watching a helicopter start up - very slow at first but give it a little while and it’s probably not safe to stand close by or you might just lose a limb.
Finally replenished and relieved to have made it back in one piece, we drove back to Whakapapa Village to have some proper dinner and get some well-deserved rest before another working day. We learnt a lot on this walk and we can take away a few things from the experience that will help us on our future travels. The first being that our ‘get up early’ mentality still works, and will always create more memorable days so get out and make the most of every day. The second is to always be curious and likewise adventurous (so long as it’s safe) - if we hadn’t have followed the rope down the goat track our day would have been much less interesting. The last point though has to be the most important however, and that is, quite simply... always bring spare food!
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