Dawson Falls

When I first moved here, I traveled somewhere new every chance I got, trying to explore as much as of the country as possible. Now that I have been here awhile, and settled into a busy life of music gigs, work, and just general life, I do not travel nearly as often, but I do still try to take advantage of the beauty around me. There is  a lot to see and do just in Taranaki, so I have been slowly making my way through the local attractions.

One which had been on my list for quite some time is Dawson Falls. The falls are outside of Stratford, which is about 30 min South of New Plymouth, so easily doable in a day. So last month Karen and I picked  a weekend and put a visit to Dawson Falls on the calendar. The falls are easily accessible from the driveway, you can drive nearly straight to them (and then take a 5ish min walk the rest of the way), but for the more adventurous you can start out a bit further up the road and hike to the falls (on a track!). If you are feeling extra adventurous, there are several other tracks of varying lengths that you can enjoy in the surrounding area.

Karen and I chose to do two of the tracks, the first a nice loop down to the falls, and the second through the goblin forest. Hope you enjoy!

Kapuni Loop Track to the falls

Not lost yet!

Cool trees :)

And moss....

First glimpse of the falls

Random meadow

Which led to another cool track

Which led to the Goblin forest

I want a tree like that....

We got to find our own way across, because this
stream is too cool for a bridge.

But worth the effort to get across....

Rustic track

King of the Goblin trees?

Check back soon for pictures from Troway and I's trip to the States :)

World War I Museum

This is the final post related to our trip to Wellington for Capitol 150. I nearly included this in the previous post, as it will be mostly pictures, but decided it was worth its own post. (Apologies for the lateness of this, we have been enjoying a whirlwind trip around America!).

The two days spent in Wellington was full of fantastic sights, but I think this was my favorite. All of Saturday afternoon was dedicated to this newly opened museum (which really is a work of art) to commemorate the role New Zealand and Australia troops played in World War I. The majority of the museum was dedicated to lifelike exhibits of the various aspects of the war. It had been created to give you the feel of being there from the moment you walked in, as the entrance to the exhibit was set up like a cobble-stone European street. The last portion was strictly devoted to Gallipoli and the New Zealand troops who served there. Unfortunately I do not have photos of this portion, as it was a maze or photographs, memoirs, and things to read, but I hope you enjoy what photos I have from the rest of the museum:

War Memorial

Tomb for the unknown soldier

In honor of all medics

WWI Museum

Start of the exhibit

Flag above shops

Medics tools

Gas masks

Trench warfare

Uniforms:

War posters: