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| Familiar symbol in New Zealand |
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| Paulie on a sunny day |
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| Bridal Veil Falls, Raglan |
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January 29
We sleep great and awaken to skies that cannot seem to make
up their minds. At once grey and
brilliant blue, the ever changing weather is a bit confusing…they say you can
experience four seasons in one day here in New Zealand and I am beginning to
believe it. We do the normal morning routine and head into town around
11:00. We have decided to go to the
nearby Bridal Veil Falls, a local waterfall that offers a very short hike
through some very pristine “bush”. When
we arrive, it is quite cold and we have not come well prepared for the
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| Sam at the trailhead for the falls |
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| Bridal Veil Falls from belo |
conditions. We grab two small blankets
from the back of the car to drape over our shoulders and Hudson and I end up
looking like two superheroes with red capes. This waterfall is interesting in
that when you hike in you are actually very close to the top and you have to
hike down to the bottom. There is a
marker at the top indicating how the falls were created when lava flowed over
the sandstone below. Over time the
runoff water from the mountain began carving a hole in the sandstone below
which eventually caused the lava to break off in a shear cliff. The waterfall is 150’ tall and the pool below
is about 30’ deep. A sign says it is not
safe to swim, but there are two people swimming in the frigid water. We hike down and get the spray all over us
before hiking back up. Amazingly, we are pretty hot, despite the cold
temperatures, by the time we reach the top.
We continue on toward town to go to see a couple of the nearby
beaches. We go to Whale Bay and watch
the surfing action before returning to Manu Bay to watch there. Our grumbling stomachs lead us back to Raglan
for lunch. We wander around a while
before settling on a lunch at a nice local restaurant called the Shack. The menu is lovely, but pricey. We decide to splurge anyway. The lunch is really nice and we enjoy a
brownie dessert to top it all off with.
After lunch, we pick walk across to a surf shop to check into renting a
surfboard for Hudson for the following day.
We meet a very nice guy who works at the shop and he offers to take
Hudson and Sam out and guide them while they surf. They get suited up for full wet suits and
select their boards. They are so excited
for tomorrow. We stock up on groceries
for dinner and return home to relax. We
read our books before enjoying some TV time before bed.
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Manu Bay panorama
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