It was a short, 20 minute
ride down to the 
end of the line.
There’s an old wooden trestle bridge, we were told this is the longest
curved wooden railroad bridge in the southern hemisphere – but it is currently
not steady or strong enough to hold the train, so it isn’t used. However, this is the route the train
took way back some 100 years ago, carrying coal from the hills to the river,
then boats took the coal out to the coast for the steamships. So it was all very interesting.
end of the line.
There’s an old wooden trestle bridge, we were told this is the longest
curved wooden railroad bridge in the southern hemisphere – but it is currently
not steady or strong enough to hold the train, so it isn’t used. However, this is the route the train
took way back some 100 years ago, carrying coal from the hills to the river,
then boats took the coal out to the coast for the steamships. So it was all very interesting.
After spending some time in
Kawakawa again, we headed south to Whangarei – another old town on an inlet
with interesting activities all around.
We went to Whangarei Falls – the river comes over a lava flow that came
across bedrock, and the water now plunges some 85 feet or so. It was another beautiful, magnificent
waterfall, and this one completely natural, no hydroelectric power or river
diversion or anything like that. I
followed the path, which included scenic overlooks cantilevered out over the
gorge; downhill switchbacks through the woods to the base of the waterfall,
where I could see the columnar basalt all around the bottom (thanks, Dad!);
climbing over a rather high but solid curved bridge over the pool; hiking back
up the other side of the gorge; and then crossing the river on a rickety and
dented metal grill bridge that sat nearly on the water, some 15 feet upriver
from the 
fall itself. Quite the
thrilling hike! I stayed on the
path, as opposed to the woman I saw who climbed off the bridge and stood on a
rock maybe ten inches from the drop.
It was gorgeous, and absolutely worth the trek!
At the car park, we tried to figure out where to stay – our guide with accommodations mentioned a holiday park adjacent to the falls reserve, but it was nowhere in sight. We asked an older man who was walking his dog (a cute little fox terrier) – he chatted with us a bit, told us maybe around the
corner because there was a backpacker’s lodge there, and we played with
the cute doggie for a while. Then
we drove off, and there was the holiday park – we checked in, Richard was
completing the paperwork, and Mr Doggie Guy showed up to invite us to spend the
night at his house! We thanked him
profusely but both just felt it would be imposing, despite his saying that he
and the dog get tired of each other’s company after a while. We felt bad, but, well, it just didn’t
seem like the right thing to do.
fall itself. Quite the
thrilling hike! I stayed on the
path, as opposed to the woman I saw who climbed off the bridge and stood on a
rock maybe ten inches from the drop.
It was gorgeous, and absolutely worth the trek!At the car park, we tried to figure out where to stay – our guide with accommodations mentioned a holiday park adjacent to the falls reserve, but it was nowhere in sight. We asked an older man who was walking his dog (a cute little fox terrier) – he chatted with us a bit, told us maybe around the
corner because there was a backpacker’s lodge there, and we played with
the cute doggie for a while. Then
we drove off, and there was the holiday park – we checked in, Richard was
completing the paperwork, and Mr Doggie Guy showed up to invite us to spend the
night at his house! We thanked him
profusely but both just felt it would be imposing, despite his saying that he
and the dog get tired of each other’s company after a while. We felt bad, but, well, it just didn’t
seem like the right thing to do.
Anyway, we’re plugged into
the power, we had a dip in the hot tub, and we’ll figure out tomorrow’s
direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment