East coast & Shine falls

We took the highway to cut across to the East coast. We particularly wanted to go to Napier/Hastings for its wine region, but it also gave us a chance to catch some natural highlights along the coast.

A turnoff indicated by an inconspicuous looking sign turned out to lead 50m to a lookout over a massive waterfall! Its incredible how easy it is to get stunning views here with no effort.

We continued until we saw the bright blue ocean rise above the horizon. It had only been a week since we had seen the ocean, but all the volcanic impressions in between made the ocean look alien. And the cloudless sky, along with the green and red "Christmas trees" (pahutakawa), made the scenery look like a supervivid camera setting (although these pictures really are unedited)!

We drove through a rolling landscape of green hills and craggy rocks. It made us think back to our time on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It was a long drive through farm fields to a not-often-visited nature trail. This park is considered a biodiversity island (on the mainland) of native species. Strict controls, through regulations, fences and hunting are slowly recovering the natural habitat. We saw large native pigeons (double the size of our city friends) and several other birds, flowers and trees.

But the main highlight of this sidetrip by far was Shine Falls with its impressive 58m (or 190ft) height. As we walked through the forest, we could hear the rumble of the falls. And soon after, the top of the veil became visible through the tree tops. A small river fanned out over the rockface to create a spectacular drapery hanging over a large but shallow, sandy pool. We braved our way into the ice-cold water, to get as close to the falls as possible. Close to the falls, the bottom dropped off and we each took turns swimming under the misty shower of the falls itself. What a sensation!

We quickly scrambled out of the water to dry off and warm up. The wet and shadowy canyon made us extra motivated to get back into the sunlight. What a great day!Read more