January 28, 2019
We woke up to a cloudy day. The final destination for the day was the town of Stratford, near Egmont National Park (estimated 2 hours 45 minutes drive time from Waitomo). But first on the agenda was the Ruakuri Bush Walk. This 45-minute hike was located near the Arenui Cave car park. It was a fun walk through a river gorge to a view point into a natural bridge. Inside we were able to see a few glowworms on the ceiling of the bridge. The walk meandered through the gorge and went through a couple of small arches.
We drove to Te Kuiti to get gas and then continued south on to the west coast. The road was twisty in several spots, but not as bad as the roads in Coromandel. The scenery was lush rainforest... and it was raining. As we approached the coast, the rain stopped but it was foggy. No great coastal views there.
In the town of Tongaporutu, we visited the Three Sisters. This was a walk along a black sand beach. The Sisters were rock formations only accessible 2 hours before and after low tide. This morning we timed it well and arrived shortly after low tide at 10:30. Despite the fog, it was an interesting walk to the Sisters and some sea arches beyond. There was even a small waterfall.
Next we drove to Urenui Beach, where the fog finally lifted. It turned into a sunny afternoon! We found a nice picnic spot to have lunch. This was another black sand beach with limestone cliffs along the shore. I read a sign that said blue penguins were nesting near the river, but it was the wrong time of day to try to see them.
We turned inland toward Egmont National Park. The scenery was rolling farmland. Many tractors and farm trucks were on the road. We had to pull over to the side of the road to make way for a house that was being moved! It had been split into two sections to allow it to be driven on the road.
House Moving
I had marked a spot on the map where there was supposed to be a great view of Mt. Taranaki, but the top half of the mountain was completely cloud covered.
We arrived in Stratford at 2:15 PM, in time to check into our cabin at the Stratford Kiwi Holiday Park. It was a comfortable, quiet place on the outskirts of town, with a private bath and kitchenette.
After unloading the car, we took a 25-minute drive to the Dawson Falls visitor center in Egmont National Park. As we approached the park, the clouds cleared and I was able to see all of Mt. Taranaki. The rolling farmland abruptly ended, and we were surrounded by thick forest. The road into the park was very narrow and twisty in spots. Fortunately there were not too many cars to pass coming in the other direction.
I was surprised to see that the visitor center was closed. It is only open Thursday through Sunday. There were display panels outside that showed maps and descriptions of the various trails. We took the hike to Dawson Falls and walked down very steep stairs to the base of the waterfall. We also hiked a short trail to a view point at the top of the falls. It is a nice waterfall and worth the short hike.
Then we walked back up the road to the visitor center and climbed stairs to a viewpoint of Mt. Taranaki. The clouds were starting to roll in, but I managed to get a few shots of the summit. Next I took the hike to Wilkies Pools while Heinrich decided to stay at the picnic table and rest his feet. It was an easy hike through a forest of moss-draped trees (the “goblin forest”). There were a couple of small waterfalls above the pools. Unfortunately Mt. Taranaki was clouded over again so there were no good views of the volcano from there. There was a nice view of the surrounding farmland below.
On the drive back to Stratford, the clouds parted and we had a final nice view of Mt. Taranaki. We went to New World to get groceries and then drove back to our cabin and cooked dinner. We had a sweet and sour pork stir fry. In the evening I heard the bellbirds singing.
