Position 39 19.445 S 174 06.227 E

Drove to Mt Taranaki (Egmont National Park) – a massive volcanic cone (2518m) that you could see miles away.  The last eruption was 350 years ago and according to geologists due for another, spooky.  Taranaki is the Maori name, Egmont is the name Captain Cook gave it, after an Earl he wanted to flatter at the time.  Some scenery on the way and cloud covered Mt Taranaki.

Picked up a few flies on the way!

There’s lots of walking you can do in the National Park and so we took the opportunity to do just that.  We went to the Dawson Falls DoC Visitor Centre and started with the Wilkies Pool Loop walk.  The first part led a set of pools and was easy, after we crossed the river it got worse.  You cannot believe the amount of growth on the trees, really long flowing moss, ferns and huge lichens.

When the snow melts this must be fantastic.  This is Wilkies Pool or pools, the guys were swimming in one the girls another.  You can see the water smoothed rocks.

View of the land below and me fording the river.

No idea what this flower is, maybe a primula, but pretty.  Whorls of flower heads.

After the Wilkies Pool walk we did the Kapuni Loop Track which leads to the 18m Dawson Falls.  Before we got there though found the DoC site power station.  Paul as ever nosing around the machinery.

Apparently the power station generator was originally used by NZ defence forces to defend Wellington Harbour.  Guess they fired it up. Then it was used to help run Wellington’s ‘little red cable car’ before coming to the park.  Now thought to be the oldest continuously operating power generator in the world.  Is that a ghost I see before me?

A truly fascinator metal grill and an equally fascinated me..

Dawson Falls (Te Rere o Noke), 18m from the lookout.  Think the lichen covered layer is an ash one.

Paul insisted on climbing down to the falls, I eventually followed… moaning … I know, I know difficult to believe.

Top of the falls, the secondary channel looks like its made of concrete.  I’ll say it again the power of ater, or rather water and time.

Will he ever finish taking photographs?

Mt Taranaki from the car park, almost a break in the clouds.  Turns out you were allowed to stay here overnight – wink, wink from the DoC volunteer.  So we spent our first night ever at 885m on a potentially eruptible volcano.