Whangarei Falls

Our day started with the sun waking us up, turning our van into a sauna. It was incredibly hot inside - like when you can't find a shaded spot at the pool in the summer and then get into the car after a refreshing swim to go home. It's not fun at all, especially when the seatbelt burns your skin. Now you can imagine how hot it was this morning. Now we're standing under a tree, which should be more pleasant.

After we were awake, we thought about what to do during the day. So we looked for what's nearby and came across a hiking trail that leads to two waterfalls. I forgot about the first one, it wasn't worth mentioning, and the other one was the Whangarei Falls (by the way, Whangarei is pronounced Fangarei, the "Wh" turns into an "F"). So back into the car and off we went. The trail started at a parking lot, which was 10 minutes away from the not-worth-mentioning waterfalls and 35 minutes away from the Whangarei Falls. At least we got to do some hiking. Stupid decision. It was way too hot, we didn't have enough water, and completely the wrong footwear. Flip flops are definitely not suitable. But you learn from mistakes.

So we walked through bushes and rocks to get to the waterfalls. When we arrived (at the unnecessary ones), we had to realize that the walk so far hadn't been worth it. It was just a rocky cliff with water dripping. Disappointing. Luckily, it was only 10 minutes, so 20 minutes there and back. From there, we went straight to the Whangarei Falls. And it was definitely worth it. I have never seen anything more beautiful. New Zealand is just wonderful. Especially when you consider that there are so many more beautiful places to see here.

After the trip, we drove to public showers. Finally, showers with warm water. Always showering cold is not that great. You don't really feel clean either. After 2 weeks, it was really nice. And it was good that we went there because we met Max and Natalie. Two German high school graduates who are spending a few weeks in New Zealand. We talked to them and then drove together to the campsite where we were yesterday. They only left Auckland yesterday and don't know their way around so well yet, so they were happy to have found such a nice campsite. We cooked together and talked for a long time. Tomorrow we plan to explore caves together, which are nearby. That's how we imagined traveling...