May. 22nd, 2024

canyonwalker: My other car is a pair of hiking boots (in beauty I walk)
During the packed day of our visit to New Zealand's Tongariro National Park we made time to visit the visitor center. We always like stop by park visitor centers to get information on conditions, seek recommendations, learn a bit about the area and its history, and see if there are any cool souvenirs to buy. Generally we try to do that first... though here at Tongariro we did it almost last in the day because the park's visitor center is buried so deep within the park. I mean, we didn't even reach it until we'd been there 6 hours. Better late than never.

"Predator Free" says the park, next to the display of an endangered predator they're trying to preserve πŸ™„ (Apr 2024)

The park had a banner proclaiming a desire to rid New Zealand of predators. We'd seen similar things in other parks over the previous week. A variety of predatory animals were introduced by European settlers, some because they wanted their furs, some because they thought they'd control pests. Well, possums, ermines, etc. found it easier to prey on New Zealand's native species of flightless birds than pest animals. These imported animals ate some of the native animals to the brink of extinction. Now for several years New Zealand has been working to reduce the invasive species' numbers and threat.

So far, so good. NZ is hardly the only place to have a problem like this and try to correct it. But it was amusing that their "Predator Free" banner was right next to this display:

Taxidermy Karearea falcon at Tongariro National Park (Apr 2024)

That's a Kārearea, a falcon that's native to New Zealand. It's... a predator. It eats birds. And it's endangered. And they're trying to save it. And the display that explains that (minus the "It eats birds" part; that was me) is right next to the banner proclaiming "Predator Free".

By the way, the karearea is the bird we bought a stuffed animal toy of the week before. Since we already had the toy— and had already named her Te'Anau— we weren't going to buy another. But I did buy this postcard of a karearea:

Postcard of a karearea, a falcon native to New Zealand (Apr 2024)

The visitors center had one of those almost-obligatory relief maps of the park. It didn't help us much in the moment— we'd already spent most of a day there and had figured out the lay of the land— but I'll include a pic now to help you (and me, when I look back on this in the future) get the context of the park:

Relief map of Tongariro National Park (Apr 2024)

Mount Ruapehu is the big mountain in the display. It's a cone volcano. As you've seen in my photos it's not quite as snow-capped during our visit. We were there in April, which is early autumn in New Zealand.

The visitors center is along the road (red line) somewhat below the Whakapapa Ski Field marked on the map. I shared photos from our drive up there in my previous journal entry. Kind of north of the visitors center is Taranaki Falls. I've posted two blogs about our hike there. Earlier that morning we visited Turoa, which is at the top of the road that approaches the flank of the mountain from the right side of the map, and hiked Mangawhero Falls from that road.

canyonwalker: My other car is a pair of hiking boots (in beauty I walk)
Our day in Tongariro National Park last month was a very packed day. I keep writing that over and over— because it's true. This is the tenth blog I've posted about our visit park and the twelfth from the whole day.

You might wonder with so much to write about, and especially with me still catching up on it over a month later, how I remember what I did. It's three things.

  • First, I have a strong memory for things I've done and places I've gone.
  • Second, the act of making photos helps— and sorting them into folders on my computer named with the location and date - e.g., πŸ“ Tawhai Falls Tongariro NP NZ 4-16-2024 - helps even more.
  • Third, I try to start each batch of photos with a pic like this:

Tawhai Falls Trailhead (Apr 2024)

πŸ’‘πŸ§πŸ€£

We saved the Tawhai Falls Walk for last because it's a short hike, only about 1/2 mile round trip. And it's relatively easy.

About 1/4 mile down the trail we found a viewpoint of Tawhai Falls from above.

Tawhai Falls upper viewpoint (Apr 2024)

The trail continues past here, winding around and down to river level a bit downstream.

Tawhai Falls viewed from river level (Apr 2024)

Here the trail ends abruptly at the river's edge to the right. Hawk and I hopped out onto a big rock in the middle of the water. That's where I made the photo above.

In the photo you can see a bit of a trail around the edge to the right. Well, "trail" may be a strong word. If you're a hiker you can definitely see a way that one might walk along the rocky bank, scramble over those big rocks about 20' upstream, and climb over the far side to get a better view of the falls.

Yeah, that's where I went next. Stay tuned for more photos!

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