Mangapohue Natural Bridge

About half an hour from Waitomo Village is a natural bridge. To be honest, it was not what I expected. It wasn't like a bridge that you could walk across. Here is what the sign had to say about it: The steep walls of this cliff were probably once the sides of a large cave. As the cave slowly grew, its roof became unstable. Eventually the roof collapsed, turning the cave into a gorge. The natural bridge is the only section of the roof remaining intact. Also at this site further on were the fossilized remnants of giant oysters, encased in rocks. The sign said they were 35 million years old.

Piripiri Caves, Waitomo

Not far from Marokopa falls was a small cave that we went and checked out. My small LED torch light was so faint and pitiful you couldn't see anything, but Dads camera flash lit up the whole place. It was pitch black when I first went in, but my eyes gradually adjusted until I could see reasonably well after a few minutes. The ground was still slippery and I was glad for the railings.

On the Road to Marokopa

It was about an hour drive from Hamilton to the Waitomo Caves turnoff. We stopped briefly at the I-site where Dad got some photos of some tui birds that were flitting around in the trees and fighting each other. Further along the road, we had a great view of the snow covered central island mountains - Tongariro, Ngaruahoe and Ruapehu where I have been a few times this year. I'm really glad my Aunty and I managed to do the Tongariro crossing when we did, as it is currently closed due to a volcanic eruption.

Marokopa Falls

About 40 mins past Waitomo Caves, along a windy crazy road is a beautiful stopping point called Marokopa Falls. Dad and I drove out there the other day. Its a ten minute bush walk down to the lookout platform where we took photos and chatted to an australian couple who were visiting for the day. Just to top things off, there was a rainbow arching to the left of the falls, and birds flying across the face of it. Magical!!