As our logistics would have it we finished fieldwork a day early and the others needed an early start to catch their new ferry crossing and so I ended up getting dropped off at Mary's in Runanga early in the morning and hanging out in her sleepout listening to the rain until a reasonable hour. It was almost the first time since I arrived in New Zealand this trip that I did not have to rush to the next thing and so was a welcome, if brief, change of pace. I largely spent the day getting organized and caught up with Mary and our many common interests. By the afternoon I was getting a little stir crazy and noticed that the other side of town seemed to have a nice DOC track to a scenic ledge-style waterfall. Despite light drizzle and the occasional mud pit to avoid, I greatly enjoyed this run through mixed bush. Closer to the falls the track parallels Coal Creek, which in its current highly swollen form looked like it would be a pleasant packraft. I passed one side creek waterfall, and caught glimpses of a rapid between the trees before arriving at the end of the track at the base of the roaring waterfall. I should have known better but almost immediately slipped spectacularly on a near frictionless wet boulder of Island Sandstone, hitting the rock hard square in my back as I prioritized saving my camera. Ouch. I snapped plenty of pictures, avoiding mist on lens as best I could, and contemplated which line I would take if I were bold enough to packraft over the falls. After enjoying the solitude of the falls I returned the way I came, a short but worthwhile outing.
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