It was only day two of my stay and I had run out of ideas. Thankfully, there was a board at my hostel listing the nearest activities. Everything but this hike required a car or a shuttle so the falls it was.
The hike took me about 5 hours and started with a walk up a gravel road. At the start of the trail, there were buckets of gravel and signs asking people to carry them down the trail to help maintain it. What a cool system! Surprisingly I haven't seen anything like it before. I feel like more trails should do this! Also these yellow flowers are all over the pastures here but they smell AMAZING.
Also, Tongariro Forest and some of the surrounding bush (like this trail) are prime kiwi habitats because locals have put in a lot of work to trap pests like stoats (little weaselly animals with long fangs) and rats. Even though I still haven't seen a wild kiwi, it is neat to see where they like to live :)
The best part of this hike was definitely all the bird. Their songs were completely different from the sounds of the wind on the Tama Lakes hike. I also enjoyed all the signs describing the plant life. I found a few new species and lots and lots of ferns. After a non-viewpoint of the mountains (due to the clouds), the trail climbed steeply down to the waterfall lookout.
The waterfall comes plunging out of the middle of the forest and even though the hike was not too long, I felt like I was in some remote tropical jungle. With that said, this track was extremely dense and some parts were pretty skinny and slippery, especially all the stream crossings. Nothing super dangerous, but with my bad ankle, I'm not gonna lie, I was worried. If I wasn't by myself, I would have made the trek down to the base of the falls, but I was already quite tired so decided to head back.
Although sheep are EVERYWHERE in NZ, I still never get tired of watching the little lambs chasing each other around the fields. So on my way back to town, I stopped for a long rest just near the side of the gravel road which overlooked a farm and had a decent view of the surrounding hillsides. The clouds lifted just a little bit so I could see one of the nearby mountains! I'm not sure if it was one of the major peaks but at least I got to see something!
I ended the day with a delicious pork and kumara roast at the Station Cafe. I ordered the apple crumble for dessert and it was delicious! The cafe was a perfect place to warm up and almost made me feel like I was back home with the soccer game on.
One more night in the hostel had me itching to get back to Auckland's warmer weather, but my bus wasn't arriving until 2pm. I cafe hopped until then. Macrocarpa had a nice warm fire and coffee and I eventually ended up at Station Cafe again for some Lasagna and dessert for lunch.
Even though the town was small and I wasn't able to do my backpacking trip, I was proud I made the most of my time in Tongariro. I was glad I did not try to attempt the hike in the terrible weather, but I wish I could have gotten that sense of accomplishment from completing a trek like that. If I can't fit another overnight trip into what time I have left, I think I'll try something in Colorado. Minimal wifi access and lots of hiking seems like it really cleared my mind and was a great way to finally shake off all my stress from finals. Until next time!