October 17, 2023 Rainbow Falls Track (Day 20)
We went to Kerikeri today to find and walk the Rainbow Falls Track. We discovered a lot of historical points of interest too, but I’ll save that for another day. Rain was predicted and we got a bit of it as we ate our savory muffin and drank our cappuccinos before we started our hike. It sprinkled a little as we walked, but we had our rain jackets at the ready!
We crossed the footbridge from the historical area into the park where the Kerikeri river track started.
We encountered 2 huge trees covered in burls early on the trail!
The first waterfall, Wharapuke falls, was reached soon after.
The track continued through dark woods full of exotic huge plants, trees and moss covered rock slopes. Going under a highway overpass we saw these black-eyed susan vines, native to east Africa, covering trees and bushes.
Following a raised wooden walkway we finally approached Rainbow falls. Unfortunately the sun was not out so we didn’t experience the rainbow in the mist that it is known for.
The trail then went uphill to give us a view mid-way up the falls.
At the top several observation decks gave us views of the falls from the top.
On the left of the deck we looked down at this tree-fern crown, with the new fronds uncurling in the mist from the falls, ready to soak up the sun when it finally comes out!
We retraced our hike back to the parking lot, enjoyed a picnic lunch as the sun came out and dried the grass. In the sun we finished exploring the historical areas, then returned home with a haul of groceries from the bigger store in Kerikeri, the hub of the agricultural community in Northland.
October 26th, 2023 at 2:00 pm
Fascinating view of the tree fern crown! See my later comments re waterfalls.
October 27th, 2023 at 6:16 pm
Too bad about the rainbow!