Sometimes the best experiences occur when you are not out to find them. One day while completing a 5 hour drive from one airbnb to another we saw two small signs on the side of the road about an hour apart and decided to check out what they were about.
This little gem of a waterfall and perpetual rainbow was noted on the road with a small sign that said Marikopa Falls with an arrow. No one had told us about it nor did we find it in a guide book or online but it was one of the nicer waterfalls we have seen.
At the entrance to the hike was this “double tree”. Two separate trees that fell in love as they began to grow. We have taken a picture of a similar circumstance back home on the Huckleberry Bog loop on the Finger Lakes Trail. I wrote a poem for Laurie called “Entwined Lovers”. It is also the picture we had put on the mouse pad we have been using for 20 years.
We had a wonderful mile long hike to the falls with the trail looking like above most of the way.
We think the child making noise in the background of the video is truly excited to be seeing the waterfall.
Our next adventure occurred not 10 miles down the road with a small sign and parking area, with no cars, that said “Natural Bridge” 1 km. As we had just left the parking area (they call these “car parks” here in New Zealand) we figured this not to be the natural bridge. Nice entry to a nice hike though.
This time the trail wound along this really pretty stream all the way to the bridge.
Sometimes the trail builders had to construct a boardwalk attached to the cliff walls to get us where we wanted to go. To our hiking friends back home, we have fallen in love with the anti-slip surface nailed to the treated wood. It is plastic and not metal so a fall on it does not take all the skin off your knees (Not that we would ever fall?). My guess is that it is made from recycled plastic as New Zealand seems to be a very environmentally conscientious country. Well, the fact that they have more cows and sheep than people counts against them we suppose. Methane gas you know!
We reached a spot where we had to cross that nice stream and encountered this sign for the first time. We have since seen signs for 5 as a maximum and 1 as a maximum.
Not sure how much the average person weighs in New Zealand but I thought it safe to try it on my own first!
This is the natural bridge the sign makers were talking about. We were alone there and spent quite a bit of time admiring its beauty. What a fabulous place.
Here is a picture of the bridge from the other side. The signage said they were formed similarly to the arches back in Arches National Park. The stone here is limestone.
A different angle provided a different viewing experience.
As we were ready to leave another hiker showed up and offered to take our picture before we headed back out. He was the same hiker that we saw at the waterfalls a short time ago.
Here is a video of Laurie attempting to cross the bridge without it collapsing.
We stopped on our way home at this sign thinking we might explore some of this track as New Zealanders call trails. We were also intrigued with the string of hiking boots wrapped on the fencing wire. It went on for at least 100 meters. We opted to head home instead of more hiking. Could not risk our last hike being not as good as the other two?
Such a cool entry! That waterfall is beautiful!!!!!
It is so great that you can find things no one talks about. You are definitely true adventurers!
I’m thinking by now you two probably feel NZ has the most diverse and spectacular scenery of any place you have been!
Tough to put things like beauty in nature on a scale but if I had to, We would put it up there with the Haines Highway and the Alaska Highway and maybe Newfoundland. Just moved to the South Island and ventured into the Southern Alps region. Very spectacular so far.