55m of amazing waterfall

We'd been recommended not to skip visiting Raglan on the west coast so this morning we left our freedom camp and headed to the sea. Our first stop was Bridal Veil Falls which was quite a fitting name for the 55m cascading white waterfall. The walk is quite easy from the carpark and took us through thick rainforest to several different look out points. The last of these points being at the bottom on the waterfall which then meant a bit of a hefty climb back up to the track. While we were at the bottom admiring the falls a couple came down with their dog which is the most infuriating thing in NZ. Anywhere where there are potential Kiwi birds they have a strict no dogs allowed rule because dogs do kill Kiwis and here was one of those places. But here this couple was with a huge dog not on a lead running all over the place. It does make you really mad that we've seen so many people disregard so many rules like this. Apart from that spoiling it a bit the waterfall was so impressive and after seeing so many now I do think it's up there in my top 3. After the falls we headed into Raglan itself which seems to be a town completely based on surfing and water sports. I can imagine it's absolutely heaving in summer and it could be a place we come back to because surf lessons are something we want to try. We went and got a couple of pies and had a wonder around the waters edge. It was nice to see so many people out and about and children playing on the mini beach. With full bellies we left Raglan and drove up the coast to the town of Port Waikato. It's another place we were told to visit because it has huge black sand dunes. The drive there was incredibly scenic and we didn't realise it but we did pass through an area which was a LOTR film location. Not sure what part but I know it involved the huge rocks we saw jutting out from the hills. One thing we've noticed more and more is how many goats just roam around all over the place. We had a couple of occasions when a small group ran across the road. Luckily they are quick and we were not driving fast on the windy roads. Eventually we made it to Port Waikato and parked up in the car park before having a walk down the beach. It's a beautiful stretch of black sand beach and as promised there were sand dunes all down the edge of it. The huge downfall is people drive on the beach. There's a sign asking people not to but it seems either everyone can't read or they choose to ignore it. The worst moment was with a group of guys on motorbikes. Even when they were a good mile down the beach and you could hardly see them the sound of their bikes was as loud as if they were right next to you. The day was passing us by and we soon realised that we needed to decided where to stay tonight. Luckily the town has a campsite so we just decided to book into here so that we could stay on the beach longer and enjoy sunset. Nick went and got some tea and biscuits while I booked the site. Although I was walking behind him because I was on my phone a large gap did form between us. Unfortunately this resulted in the bikers deciding to circle around me whistling which was just lovely. They soon realised I wouldn't even look at them and they moved on. We sat on a rock drinking tea as we watched the sunset. The whole sky and beach turned into beautiful pastel colours and it was such a shame that in front of you on the sand were tyre marks everywhere. We moved nearer to the sea and after taking some photos one biker decided to drive between us and the sea creating more tyre marks in our view. I'm pretty sure it was on purpose which made it even more lovely. We still enjoyed sunset and afterwards we headed to the campsite to set up for the night. The kitchen smelt awful so we cooked in the van and I managed to get some washing done and even exchange a couple of books. Campermate and our Lonely Planet guide are great for finding things to do but sometimes it's having an actual person recommend places to you that leads to having an awesome day.Read more