Sarah WallockHaving already been to two different parts of the Northside of Mount Taranaki, upon our boss’ recommendation, we headed East to Dawson Falls. On the rainiest day of the week, it was definitely hard to motivate for this hike, but totally worth it. After committing to the causes of exploration and new experiences, we drove one hour Southeast from New Plymouth to get to the Dawson Falls Visitor Center. I was extra motivated to go out to Egmont National Park as I recently traded in my Canon Rebel Ti for a Fujifilm X100T and I wanted to further test and understand the camera.
There was one other car at the visitor center. There are plenty of hiking options from Dawson Falls, but because of the weather, we didn’t want to attempt anything too ambitious. To wait out the rain and get some energy, we headed up to the Cafe. It was very quiet and there was no one in sight. I opened the cafe door and yelled to the back to see if anyone was there and upon hearing my call, someone came out from a back room. I ordered a hot chocolate and sat down facing the massive glass windows looking out to the expansive ferns and trees of the National Park. For the record, it was a delicious hot chocolate. It warmed me up enough to brave the rain and venture down to Dawson Falls.
We walked a fast 10 min trail to the base of the falls. It was first along the main road and then continued to wind down a path to the base of the falls. The falls were beautiful and totally worth the drive. The colors around the falls particularly struck me. The orange rock on the right side contrasted nicely with the green ferns on the left side. Although this was a great winter day, that was short, sweet and nature-filled, it made me long for summer. I look forward to spending my final days in Taranaki seeing as much of the Mountain as I can, if the weather permits!
