My New, New Favourite Place.

Remember how I said that Cathedral Cove was my new favourite place. Well, now I have a new, new favourite place. Let me explain.

Today began like a normal day. I woke up at a nice, normal hour, I got a nice, normal shower – which actually wasn’t all that normal. Remember how I put ridiculous amounts of Sudocrem on last night? Well, turns out that Sudocrem just doesn’t come off. So I sat in the shower, trying to get as much off as possible – it didn’t really work, upon close inspection you can still see it! So after my not so normal shower I decided that I would walk to Huka Falls. So I got myself all kitted out, in my comfy clothes, which make me look like a total idiot. Really. I was wearing some of my favourites – my navy BYU shorts that I am sure everyone has seen, I literally live in them, my green ward t-shirt, which I think is quite snazzy, the bright green would also come in handy if I fell off a cliff while walking to the waterfall – I would be easy to spot! I finished it off with my wicked cool North Face shoes and a hat. Oh, let’s not forget the rucksack! I actually looked so ridiculous. All that was missing was a big walking stick.

For once I was actually quite prepared, so I stopped off at a local cafe to get some lunch – I got a Caesar Salad, which was not like any Caesar Salad I have ever eaten – it had chicken, bacon and lettuce, which is pretty normal, but then there was broccoli and carrots and seasame seeds, among other strange things. I also got a raspberry and white chocolate muffin. Yummy. Once I bought lunch I headed up the Spa Rd to get to the falls. I had checked out my map beforehand so I knew where to go and after a nice, entirely uphill walk, I spotted the river! It was HUGE! Like a real, proper river that you see in the movies, it was massive! So basically I just followed the signs and the paths and found the start of the walk! The Lonely Planet Travel Book says that the walk from the town centre to the falls is about an hour and a half. I started my walk at 11.30am and got back to the Hostel at 4.50pm. So that was slightly longer than suggested. However, I did stop for lunch for a good long while and I took about a million pictures!

Anyway, back to the walk. It was really lovely and I’m so glad I actually got off my backside and did it! It was the nicest day – sunny and hot, but with a bit of a breeze! The river was so clean and clear and everything was so green! Awesome! When I eventually got to the actual waterfall part, the Huka Falls, I stopped for lunch. I found a little path that went off the walking track, so I headed down there and came out on a little ledge. It was a really nice spot, so I decided to have lunch there! I was the only person about so that was nice – but I did consider how bad it would be if I fell in – the water was sooo fast and crazy, so I’m actually quite glad that I didn’t go face first into the rapids! After eating some lunch (and feeding the little birds that were having dust baths near me) I went to the information centre and changed into my swimming suit. Then I started the trek back, which seemed easier and shorter than the walk there, which is strange because it was uphill at times. As I was coming to the end of the walk I was pretty warm so I decided to have a wee swim! The popular place to swim was full of attractive guys who were drinking beer and there were a few skinny girls in their bikinis. I didn’t want to embarrass everyone with my super hot Sudocrem covered legs and awesome swimming skills, so I decided to find my own little place to swim. Just around the corner from the attractive boys there was a nice little coveish area so I went for a dip there! I didn’t want to be too adventurous with my swimming, in case I ended up in the middle of the river and couldn’t get back to the shallows, so I stayed close to the edge. Also there was some sort of river bed vegetation growing when it got deeper and I didn’t fancy swimming through that. Fear of the unknown and all that jazz. But it was nice to cool down in the river; there were two ducks who had no problem swimming around me, so that was quite cute. There were also LOADS of tiny little fish, who were really well camouflaged against the sand (alluvial silt, I think, I can’t say I really listened to the Rivers section in Geography – Mrs McKillme taught that - em, k, so ) at the bottom of the river. So I wasn’t sure if I thought they were cute or creepy – maybe a bit of both.

After my bracing swim/paddle I dried off and walked back to the Hostel, which was so much nicer as it was downhill. The backs of my feet were really quite sore because of my wicked awesome North Face shoes, so I was mad about that, but my pumps saved the day. I don’t know what looked worse – my outfit with hiking shoes or with pumps. I’m thinking pumps. Gross.

Back at the Hostel I just chilled out – read my book, listened to music, started to write this – all the super fun things I do, but don’t really Blog about because then you would think that my life was actually really boring! I think a few cups of Peppermint Tea occurred that night. Tonight was my last night in Taupo. I actually really like the place! It was a nice, chilled out place, for me anyway. The town was big enough to have everything you would need, but it wasn’t too big, in the sense that it was an impersonal city. I walked home from church on Sunday, which gave me the chance to have a nosey at the houses, so it was nice to see what it would be like to live there, as a family. The houses were my kind of houses – nice, neat and tidy. Lovely. I really enjoyed Taupo, even though I didn’t do all the activities Taupo is famous for – skydiving, bungy jumping etc. Taupo was exactly what I needed it to be. It’s definitely worth the visit, and like everything here, it’s what you make of it!

xx