Day 16 Paihia and Waitangi – Haruru Falls Walk

It’s a beautiful day.  The sun is shining and everything is good. 

We headed to downtown Paihia this morning to stretch our legs and get some touristy information about the area.  Paihia is a quaint little town and the major industy is tourism.  It has become the central location to visit and enjoy the Bay of Islands.



Busby Manor - Our room is the one in front




Downtown Paihia




Downtown Paihia



Throughout New Zealand you will find “I Sites” which are tourist information sites and the people in them are very helpful and very knowledgeable.  We got the info we needed and headed on.  The downtown was busy this morning as there was a cruise ship in town.  I had hoped we had seen the last of them when we left Alaska.

Sea Princess

However, we were able to get a seat at the local Roasters so Kathy could have her latte.  We enjoyed the morning cruising the downtown area before heading back to the resort for lunch.

In the afternoon we had decided to do a hike.  The hike we had picked out would take us along a fairly well groomed path which passed over a mangrove board walk and then follows the river to Haruru Falls.  The hike was 5 klms or 3 miles one way and sounded just perfect for an afternoon stroll.   The headway to the hike didn’t look that far on the map, so based on that and information we received that it was only a 10 minute walk we decided to leave from the resort.    Welllllll, it turns out the individual (female) that told us it was 10 minutes to the headway was rounding down, a lot.  It turns out the walk to the headway was about 3 klms which made the entire trip 16 Kilometers or about 10 miles.  However, being the stubborn people we are, we carried on.

The part of the walk once we reached the entrance was quite enjoyable.   The trail was well maintained and we saw some interesting sights on the way.



Footbridge leading Mangrove Forest



White Breasted Shay





Waitangi River




Trail to Haruru Falls




Boardwalk through Mangrove Forest




More of the Trail to the Falls




Another White Breasted Shay



Once we reached the end of the hike we came to Hukuru Falls. It looks like a miniature Horseshoe Falls that you would see in Niagara Falls.  We sat and rested, talked to some nice people and took a bunch of pictures before heading back.



Haruru Falls



The hike back was pretty good for about the first 4 kilometers and the body started to rebel.  I do believe we were a little more ambitious than we should have been.  The last 4 kilometers, one in the park and the 3 along the road, were a little uncomfortable and a lot slower.  However, we did make it home, mainly with thoughts of the hot tub here at the resort driving us on.  You can bet your life that the first thing we did was jump in.



Ahhhhhhhhhhhh



We finally dragged ourselves out of the tub and returned to our unit for a late but light supper.  It wasn’t long before we were in bed.  Tomorrow should be an interesting day.