This week was our anniversary, so we took several days off and rented an Airbnb cottage in Okere Falls, about a 30-minute drive from where we live, north and east of Lake Rotorua.
There are several falls along the Kaituna River, including the Kaituna Cascades Grade 5 whitewater, Okere Falls, and Tutea Falls, the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, at 21 feet.
The view from our little cottage overlooking Kaituna inlet. The outflow from Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotorua here at Okere Falls form the headwaters of the winding and circuitous Kaituna River, which runs nearly 30 miles through the Bay of Plenty region to the estuary at Maketu.
We drove up the east side of Lake Rotorua following our District Missionary Council Meeting, with a fine view of Mokoia Island and some sheep
The weather was brilliant and sunny, with gorgeous clouds
The lane up to our secluded and fairly large yard
The cottage where we stayed, within walking distance of the Okere Falls trail
Inside the cottage there were space heaters, which came in handy because it is getting quite chilly in the mornings
Also a nice living space, plus the view through large deck windows
We explored the yard, and discovered a fantail among the ferns
The beloved New Zealand native, Piwakawaka, is a friendly little bird that doesn't mind the presence of humans because we disturb insects as we walk by. They dart around so quickly, though, it is hard to get a picture, so I took one after another.
This picture is actually rotated 180 degrees, since the little bird was clinging upside-down from the midrib of the fern when I took it
I got a bit of video of the charming way the fantail flits around.
In the morning, we walked down our shady lane and found rafters already unloading across Highway 33. We also visited the nearby Okere Falls Cafe and Beer Garden, where we ordered smoothies.
The Waterfall Track sign was probably to keep trail hikers out of the way of the rafters and zipliners.
We passed a Maori urupa along the road to the Waterfall Track. This is a large cemetery surrounded by an electric fence, since parking can be at a premium here. There were several vaults with markers, but the burial grounds were mostly unmarked.
The Waterfalls Track began at the bottom of the map, very near our cottage
The first falls on the track was Okere Falls. Although it isn't Niagara Falls, as Elder Rooks remarked, it certainly puts out a vast quantity of rushing, roaring water
Video of the rush of water of the Okere Falls
Rafters on the whitewater
Part of the track leading down to the falls viewpoint
The Tutea Falls, with a 21-foot drop
A set of stone steps leads down to the Tutea Caves. The steps were cut from the rock face in 1907 by the power station engineer (the power station is no longer there). Before the steps were cut, the caves, it is said, were used to hide women and children in times of war. They made the descent by rope. The caves themselves are small and quite dark, but I did see a few glow worms along the walls, something I wanted to see before we leave New Zealand. None of the pictures I took came out.
Silver ferns along the trail. The underside of the ferns reflects moonlight at night, helping to mark the way in the dark. At the end of the trail is Trout Pool Falls, a stopping-off place for the rafters to make a return trip via the Trout Pool Car Park.
The evening sky over Kaituna Inlet
We heard some clacking, squeaking and stuttering noises, and tracked it down to the strawberry tree in the yard. It turned out to be the elusive Tui bird, the song of which sounds like "a long and complicated mix of tuneful notes interspersed with coughs, grunts, and wheezes." (nzbirdsonline.org.nz) We identified the Tui, Prosthemadera novaeseelandaie, by its song and by the white feathers under its chin.
Thursday morning we said goodbye to our pleasant anniversary cottage and got back on the highway heading toward our senior missionary cottage.
Here's to another three years of life married to you, Dewane!
April 25 is actually a national holiday, Anzac Day, observing the remembrance of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps World War I battle in Gallipoli, Turkey, and the great loss of life sustained there.
This sunrise remembrance is at the soldier's cemetery in Ohinemutu. Photo borrowed from the Rotorua Daily Post.
