The following day was our first gloomy and slightly wet day and I could finally put my poncho, that I had brought along, to good use. Our first activity of the day was kayaking around the Moari Carvings in Taupo!
We had the morning session with our instructor/guide and another couple from Germany. The water was quite warm and still as we started our journey to the Maori carvings.
It started to drizzle as we slowly approached the Maori carvings and we took a few photos before we left. My boyfriend decided to jump off a cliff as if didn't look all to high, but he did say when he got up there is was quite a height!
On the journey back, the struggle was REAL! I mean look at my face!! We were fighting the storm and waves but because our kayaks had a motor we were able to cut through the water swiftly. However our motor would stop working because our kayak would jump over the waves and the propellers weren't in water. It was a tough journey back as I had to fight the pain in my arms and by the end of it they were so wrecked! After we had a quick snack back on land, we were then headed off towards the Whakapapa Visitor Centre so we could go on a hike in Tongariro National Park.
Because of the weather, it was advised to see which are the safer hiking routes to take and we lucky for us, the route we originally wanted to do was still up and running. We did the Tranaki Falls track which is 6.45km loop.
We began our hike and along the way we saw alpine grassland, beech forests and other amazing landscapes such as nearby mountains and volcanoes! Let my photos do the talking for me!
When we came to this mini water fall many, who had also went on the Taranaki Falls hike that day, thought this was the falls (as did we!) and turned back as it started to drizzle.
However my partner and I continued through the wind, rain and fog as we thought we were halfway. We realised when we reached higher grounds that we were not half way at all. In the far sight we could see a water fall rushing by! That's when we realised those who saw the mini fall and turned back had actually missed the main attraction of this hike!
Taranaki Falls plunges about 20 meters from volcanic cliffs into a pleasant pool. We went down to get a closer view of the water fall and also take some awesome shot!
As we continued our journey to complete the hike, the fog got heavier but the view was absolutely amazing! It was just breathless despite that it looked a bit creepy!
Once we had successfully completed our 2.5 hours of hiking (30mins more than suggested because we took our time taking photos!) we went to the nearby hotel for a hot beverage to warm ourselves up! Then it was back on the road!! There is another hike here in Tongariro National Park that we were really interested in, but it is a 4 day hike, which we were limited on, so the next time I come to New Zealand I will definitely be challenging myself even more to do the 4 day hike!
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Good evening my fellow blog family!! I'm super exhausted as I had work today and also hungry because I haven't had dinner yet! Anyway I will be getting my blog revamped very soon! I've been saying it forever and it's finally going to happen! So probably less pink and bows but will still have some colours otherwise it's way too plain or like any other minimalistic blog styles~
Comments are love ♥
-LAZYPANDAH
