West Coast

Warning: Photo Overload!

Our destination after leaving Ohakune and Tongariro National Park was Mokau on the west coast. On the way to Mokau, we visited Omaru Falls and did the Glowing Adventures cave tour.

At the beginning of the waterfall track, you had to cross a small section of a paddock, going over two sets of stiles.

Then it was a nice walk through the bush and across a swingbridge, ending up at the platform overlooking the falls. There were Maori-inspired carvings in the railings.

It’s amazing to me how these special places are overlooked. We were absolutely the only ones there, except for the sheep!

We had a light lunch in the car and then drove to the Glowing Adventure Caves. This is the second time we’ve been in these particular caves. The first time was with Paul of Green Glo Adventures and we had a fabulous time. I had recommended the tour on the forum and someone stated the website said tours were cancelled due to medical reasons.

Well, I won’t go into the details, but I emailed Paul, and he told me how dire the situation was. Then, poof! The website disappeared. I feared the worse.

So part of me wanted to know if Paul was okay and to revisit the caves. Thankfully, Paul is doing way better than a couple of years ago and had resigned his lease to the owners of the property, who were now operating under the Glowing Adventures name.

As with the Green Glow tour, you are outfitted in weird tights and fleece tops. There were only 5 of us, plus Kevin, on the tour – it’s very personal. You walk down through some rocky pathways to the cave. Some things were different about this tour. There was no rock-climbing or rappelling, and although allowed to take cameras into the cave, no real focus on photography (they do have a specialized tour for that). There was a lot more time in the cave and a lot of scrambling. It was rather physical, Fred and I were both tired afterwards.

Kevin talked about growing up with a cave in his backyard and taking it for granted. It’s a gorgeous cave, had many features and glowworms. There’s lots of tight places and huge boulders to scramble over. We had a great time.

In Mokau, we stayed at the local motel. I conversed with the owner and since we wanted a larger kitchen space, opted for the “executive family spa suite”. It was awesome and we had a BBQ right in front of our room. Views across the river were amazing and we could see vehicles driving below us on the highway. Mount Taranaki even presented itself in the distance!

Much of our New Zealand travels have been guided by Scott Cook’s New Zealand Frenzy books. On the cover of the North Island edition is a picture of spherical rocks at Tongaporutu Beach. Although it is a rare occasion that those spheres are visible, the beach is still worthwhile. But you must go at low tide. There are numerous rock stacks, the most famous are the Three Sisters and Elephant Rock.

Tongaporutu had its low tide mid-morning and we made the most of it. We were sad that Elephant Rock had lost its trunk last December, but such is the way with Mother Nature. That same storm had created a unique arch rock.

A local man approached us and asked us if we knew exactly when low tide was. He wanted to get further down the beach to take some photos.

He showed us some of his pictures and led us to where one of the best ones was shot. I was a little nervous because the waves were getting really wild and we had to dodge them at times as we dashed across the beach. And once inside the cave, we were about 6 inches deep in water and something nipped my ankle. But the photo op was worth it!

We also visited Mount Damper Falls. The road to the falls was very narrow and even took us through a hand-dug tunnel. Once on the track, we passed hillsides loaded with sheep, most of which never took notice of us. The falls are viewed from a platform across the gorge and they have an impressive drop.

This makes it an even dozen named waterfalls seen so far on this trip.

On the way back to our motel, we pulled off a side road and walked down to Awakino Heads Beach. I didn’t expect too much from this beach, it isn’t known for any rock stacks. But we saw a fishman, a waterfall, and a huge, semi-petrified log – which all made for good photos.

Whitecliff Walkway Loop was on tap the following day with low tide at close to 11am. So we had plenty of time to do the uphill slog over all the pastures, and down the many, many steps down to the stream and to the “iffy” point of the tidal track.

Again, we seemed to be the only ones there, although there were footprints in the sand suggesting we were following two others. The cliffs and spillways onto the beach can’t be beat! All that uphill in the beginning was worth walking the beach at the end. But if I were to do it again, I think I’d do an out-and-back along the beach. The views were great at the top, but we’ve had many great views by then.