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  • Day 5

    Waterfalls & Gloworms

    May 22, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Awoke to a glorious morning at the Raglan Caravan Park, so we took a stroll along the beach before breakfast. Bit weird having chocolate coloured sand.
    After doing the breakfast things we loaded up & headed out to enjoy the day. No more than 10km out of town it started raining again, just showers, off & on. Drove the short distance to Bridal Veil Falls which after the recent heavy rain were in full flow. Is a drop of 55 metres and the water breaks up on the way down to give the impression of a veil. We did the veiwing at the top, middle & bottom of the falls and then had to negotiate the heaps of steps to get back up. Spectacular falls in amongst the rainforest and for a few moments the sun broke thru to create some misty sunbeams through the trees.
    After a cuppa we changed our plan again and headed directly to the Waitamo Caves, arriving in time for the 2pm session. The tour is a guided walk thru the limestone caves and culminates with a boat ride, in the darkness, thru the cave with thousands of gloworms lighting up the roof like fairy lights.
    The day was getting on so we changed plan again and drove the 1 hour directly to Cambridge, arriving in time to set up in the light. Pretty much the whole trip was driving thru lush dairy farms, beautiful pastures and fat cows of all description and the occassional sheep farm. Cambridge looks like an old established city and the streets are named after writers, we are on Scott St, just past Shakespeare and Wordsworth Sts, whoever they were!!
    Turned pretty cool, windy & more showers so we settled in for drinks & pasta dinner in the campground kitchen and chatted to any other patron who dared to pop in.
    Cool day with showers all day, interspersed with sunny periods, about 18C

    Highlights
    * breakfast by the beach at Raglan.
    * Bridal Veil Falls,
    * Waitamo Gloworm Caves
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