First off, by the time this posts it will either be or close enough to the witching hour to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! This is the day I think about 364 days a year and then bask in all the orange and black the haunter’s day can hold. The day may keep the witches at bay, but it’s the night when the frights come out to play. While I finish carving the pumpkin for our annual burning, Brad is going to squeeze in one more bonus offering for our “Lifer” themed month. Enjoy everyone and I’ll see you again next month…assuming I survive whatever the local demons have in store for us.
Take it away Brad…
Apologies to Lawrence Welk right off the bat.
While on a bathroom break on our trek across New Zealand, we stopped at Huka Falls, the most visited natural attraction in New Zealand, at least according to their website. We had just beaten the “enemy” (other tour buses) to the rest area so we had solo access to the restrooms and scenic overlooks. As we were staring at the torrent of water rocketing through a narrow channel, I asked our guide, Graeme, if anyone has ever tried to run a kayak through there. He told us that a few try it every year, and most of them survive. Roughly 220,000 liters (58,000 gallons) of water per second falls 11 meters (33 feet) over the falls highly aerating the water. That’s enough water to fill an Olympic sized pool in about 10 seconds. The water seemed well past Class 5 for rapids and boiling, in my humble non-kayaking opinion. The rapid water flow is caused when the 100-meter-wide river is forced through a 15-meter-wide channel in the rock on its way south to Lake Taupo. There is so much air in the water under the falls that nothing really floats until a bit further downstream.
The rushing water was the second loudest thing we heard at the falls overlook. The first was the bird in the tree behind us. At first, it sounded like two birds singing two completely different songs.
Now this is taking ‘Down Under” quite literally – hit the jump to learn more about this Kiwi.
Continue reading A One-y and a Tūī…by Brad Marks
