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  • Writer's pictureChewy Pineapple

Our Last Day Of Freedom - Taranaki Falls

Updated: Aug 16, 2019





We were ready to say goodbye to the campsites, and hello to the warmth and comfort of four walls once again as we transitioned into the next stage of our travels. It was finally time to start earning some money after spending so much while we were travelling around the North. It’s expensive, you know... travelling, well if you’re travelling with Liam anyway - his monthly coffee budget alone would make even Italians raise an eyebrow. We also bought a car of course, various bits of camping equipment, and a lot of money went on food... thinking about it, Liam is responsible for that too.

Our masterplan to recoup the cash we had spent in the previous weeks entailed working as kitchen hand’s in the Chateau Tongariro, until we could once again afford to continue exploring New Zealand. It was the perfect job opportunity - a beautiful location, no expensive distractions nearby... Sabina would be able to show off her amazing organisational skills, and Liam would be surrounded by free food. We even had accommodation provided, in a shared block where we could meet new people and perhaps get some pointers for our future travels.

We were lucky enough to be able to park right outside our new room which made moving in much easier, a lot of stuff also managed to fit through the window, so even though we had enough belongings to last any normal people a lifetime, it wasn’t too long before we were all finished. This gave us chance to get straight back out on the road. After all, we were going to have plenty of time to get comfortable in our new home, so we weren’t really keen on wasting the day when the Tongariro National Park was quite literally on our doorstep. Speaking of not wasting opportunity, free lunch was provided as one of the working conditions and so needless to say, we jumped at that first before then going out to see what the national park was hiding.




We didn’t have to go far at all. There are several walks that start on Ngauruhoe Terrace and only a couple of minutes from our lodge, we found one that looked good for us. Also in the area is the Northern Circuit which has a status of one of New Zealand’s great walks, but it’s fair to say we’d have been pretty unlikely to squeeze a four-day walk into just one afternoon, even if Liam says we could have done... we had our first shifts the next day anyway so ultimately we chose the shortest of all the walks in the area - Taranaki Falls.

If ever there was a misleading name for a waterfall, it has to be this one. There are 231 kilometres between Mount Taranaki and Taranaki falls (that’s two days of non-stop walking), and they are absolutely nowhere near the Taranaki region in general. They’re in the Tongariro National Park, and we couldn’t find any reason for them to be named after something they’re not. We can only assume somebody intentionally named them wrong just to confuse people... “oh yes this’ll get em...” there’s no other explanation... it was probably the same person who named Iceland and Greenland.

Taranaki Falls track (in Tongariro) consists of two parts; the upper track which begins at the end of Ngauruhoe Terrace, and the lower track, which begins just a few metres away. Each of these takes an hour and both can be walked as a loop, something which isn’t mentioned on the signposts. For now, we walked only the lower part of the track, choosing to return to the upper part another time as part of the Tama Lakes walk (but that’s another story). The thinking process behind doing the lower track was simply because it sounded like the easier option. Generally it’s walked anticlockwise due to the gradient (some say it’s easier) but doing the route clockwise can help you avoid the crowds, not that we came across any though.





Starting at, well... the start, the track begins level and straight, cutting through tussock and alpine shrublands which are typical for this type of volcanic environment. The ground is reasonably flat all around and if you look straight ahead on a clear day, you’ll see the famous Mount Ngauruhoe (aka Mt. Doom) watching over the older and less known mountains of Tongariro and Pukekaikiore.

”I am not sure if it is only us but the view of a symmetrical cone of Mt. Ngauruhoe (never will be able to say this) just doesn’t get old. Every day we were seeing this mountain and every day we admired its perfection.”

The track goes very near to the mountains where you’ll get a good view up-close of the terrain, before it then turns down and leads you into a beech forest. This is where you’ll meet the Wairere stream for the first time on it’s way from the falls. You’ll know you’re roughly half way there when you get to this point. From here, you need to follow the stream up - don’t cross it, because you’ll end up by the Mangatepopo Hut on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. You’ll then have to tell the people looking at you funnily that you got lost because you took the wrong track, and they’ll ask you why you didn’t listen to Sabina and Liam... try and explain yourself out of that one...





Back to the stream, the water is clear and clean, it looks fresh and on a particularly sunny day you could even say inviting. This is a trap. Yes it is fresh... icy fresh, as Liam found out when he couldn’t resist going for a paddle along the way. Not far away from here is a bridge that you’ll cross, that stretches over a nice looking gorge. It’s another one of them points of interest though that looks better in reality than in photos, or at least our photos.

Leaving the forest, the path becomes a bridge and crosses over the cascade waterfall. This on it’s own is a pretty sight, but don’t be mistaken into thinking that you have arrived at the end because that’s still another 250 metres or so ahead. Thanks to our lack of preparation, we nearly made this mistake. (The key word there being ‘nearly’ -of course we don’t actually make mistakes... we just nearly make them)

Perhaps our favourite thing about Wairere Falls is that you are able to get so close to them and take in the breathtaking action from just a few metres away. The pool is surrounded by boulders, where we sat and watched the water hurtling over the edge of the cliff which was formed by lava-flows over 15 thousand years ago. We took a seat on the rocks and looked up at what was in front of us... we had a front row view of an unforgettable experience. As you can see from the photos, this is one of them extremely picturesque waterfalls -everything just looked so perfect, and for those few moments we spent looking up through the mist, there was nowhere else we’d have rather been.





On a hot Summer day this would be a really nice place to take a dip. The water would still be cold, but it wouldn’t matter... in a place this amazing the temperature would be the last thing on your mind. Of course we went in March though so if you think we went for a swim you can think again - we’re not Eskimos. Instead, we brushed up on our photography and got creative with our camera’s, trying to make scenic videos and capture a range of different shots. To be fair, if ever there was a good time to do so, this was it - usually waterfalls are seen from viewing platforms or from far away, but this one was just so close, so accessible!

From the bottom of the falls, it appears there is no way up to the top. If you want to have a look from above there is always the option of doing the track as a loop, but we left that for another time. It was getting late and we needed to head back for dinner, because obviously you don’t miss free dinner. The way back was super quick, especially as we didn’t stop like we usually would at every single bridge/stream/viewpoint/vaguely nice looking tree/small hill (Sabina...).


For our first day in Tongariro we did well, and we didn’t spend a cent. It was a great introduction to the area but of course there is plenty more to do, and going somewhere so great yet so close made us eager to get straight back out there as soon as possible. We may have said goodbye to the campsites but we were just getting acquainted with the outdoors...




 

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