Te Awamutu ... and beyond!

Marokopa Falls

Off to Te Awamutu for a gymnastics event, but with a bit of time to spare we headed down to Waitomo ... and then further west to see the Mangapohue Natural Bridge and then the Marokopa Falls.  The first shot in this post is a shot of the top of the falls.  This has been tweaked quite a bit really ... but gives a reasonable impression of the place ... and it's well worth a visit if you're close by.  Shutter speed was reduced to blur the water and then the shot has been processed in Photomatix Pro to give that HDR effect.  Back into Lightroom and and bit of sharpening and reduction in the aqua colours as the sky was looking  really quite strange!  So ... what do you think?  Fancy visiting the falls?  Just to tempt you the second shot shows all pf the falls and this view is from the viewing platform a mere 10 minutes walk from the road.

Both images seem a little "fuzzy" or unclear in certain areas.  All I can think is this is due to the spray from the falls.  We managed to get quite wet as we admired the view.

Marokopa Falls

I mentioned the Mangapohue Natural Bridge.  Quite a fascinating "thing".  Apparently this was a cave some time ago but various parts have fallen down to leave what is now visible ... a double arch across the river below.  This is a seriously damp place with lots of ferns and greenery.  Again, very pretty and worth a peep.  The last shot in this post shown the bridge.  Not the best, but it was pretty wet in there!

So, all in all a pretty pleasant day trip out west from Te Awamutu.

Mangapohue Natural Bridge