Waihi Beach - part 1

Waihi Beach is only about an hour's drive south of where we were on Hot Water Beach and after several days of walking mainly on beaches we decided that we would look for tramp in the woods enroute. Not that we were bored in any way with the beaches but the forests were just as interesting. Enroute we came to the town of Whangamata and stopped at the isite location - NZ's tourist information centres. After discussing the many options we had, we made the decision to do what was described as about a 3 hour hike up the Wentworth Valley to a waterfall. The route would take us along the river through a thickly forested steep sided valley. Sounded great and we were excited to begin.

Mobile, Hmmm?

Now for just about the entire trip Julie had been talking about her ambition to find a dress - no, not a dress; the dress - (or dresses) suitable for some upcoming summer weddings. Up until recently this had not really been a concentrated search - the kind that would require a coffee shop and a bookstore nearby for me - but now that our time in New Zealand was starting to wind down the priority of this task was starting to rise. Thus I was not surprised when having just exited the isite Julie turned around and went back into ask if there were any dress shops in town that sold New Zealand products. Yes indeed there was and so off I headed to the cafe and then to the bakery where I acquired a baguette for that day's lunch as well as a couple of sugar donuts thinking Julie would probably need a bit of comfort food after another disappointment. I am happy to report that the comfort food was not required. While the dress had not yet been chosen when I arrived it was very shortly thereafter. Julie was thrilled, I was thrilled, the salesperson was thrilled and best of all the dress (or dresses) look absolutely thrilling on Julie. Thusly thrilled we were ravenous and decided to put an end to the baguette before heading out for our tramp. The parking lot at the trailhead was about 10k off the main road and the seal lasted for maybe 2 of those and then quickly deteriorated from gravel to a Minefield of potholes that required a maximum speed of maybe 10 for fear of breaking an axle or something. The valley was lovely with sheep and cattle grazing. A guy on his tractor passed us (his tires were better able to handle the potholes). We knew we were getting close when ahead we saw one of those road signs with an exclamation point on it and the word: Ford. Sure enough, there it was with the water flowing smartly, but smoothly over the surface of the road. This time however, there was evidence of it having been used recently and it wasn't until we were half way across that the thought occurred to me that it was probably the tractor that had passed us a while back.

This time we did it!

In any event we successfully forded the river and shortly thereafter arrived at the parking lot. This little adventure seemed to put a spring in our step as we arrived at the waterfall in a little less than an hour. It was a lovely walk with a couple of bridges across a river comparable to the Seymour River. The falls were difficult to photograph as they were in a steep and narrow gorge that was heavily treed. We saw a total 6 people there and back and this peaceful solitude in this lush green place made for a delightful afternoon (especially with a new dress - the dress - safely tucked away in the car).