No. 43 part 4: hossie, doggie, Will and Emma

Just to pick up where I left off, I'll summarize:

1. I drove 200+ km to another hostel by the bay
2. Shared a room with female potheads and an Israeli (Dolon, he let me use some of his ketchup)
3. Continued my streak of adventure & seagull stalking

After visiting that nice spot up the mini-mountain, I drove on to an unknown destination.

Haruru Falls as an obvious choice, yes?

So I drove along the hills of the Waitangi area, till I made my next stop - a horse ranch. Just to get a closeup of horses dressed up for the winter fashion show.

A lady who I bumped into at the ranch gleefully explained the situation: "We peymper theym, they our baybies (accompanied by a cheerful smile)".

Eventually I did manage to find Haruru Falls :)




That's my version of Haruru Falls. I did also get a friendly Haruru greeting from this lil doggie that came by:

Leon says, "Whatever you searching for, doggie, it ain't there!!"

"Yeah, it might be on that other side. Just don't go looking where you were previously."

Eventually the doggie found his next calling...

...within a 5 meter distance. Cute doggie!


Right beside the waterfall was the Waitangi reserve, which had a footpath running on the bank of the river. Seeing that the weather wasn't really up for any sort of beach fun, I renewed my adventure in these parts.

I was heading further and further away from where I parked my car, so I gave myself another 20-30 mins before making the return trip. Here's what I found nestling on one of the large old trees:

I'd say that even though I wasn't exactly sure where I was headed, I at least knew that I was in the midst of undisturbed tranquility. Perfect!

Homes at the bank of the river


It was so calm and peaceful that I was obliged to great care in treading gentle footsteps as I made my way back to the car park. Over there, I met a young backpacking couple who had taken a long walk from another end of the Waitangi trail. I figured that they would be reluctant to make an hour trip back to their starting point, so I hitched them a ride.

Leon Will and Emma. Definitely pleased that they did not have to walk back for another hour in the rain!

Whadya know, it ain't raining no more!

I took the opportunity to fill the clear blue sky with a seagull on its pedestal. Clear blue skies! Looks like the Dolphin trip is very much possible!


Ok, I'm getting there...part 5 concludes this cosy little trip :)