New Zealand

Walk to Bridal Veil Falls

Waterfalls with an evening surprise

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Walk to Bridal Veil Falls
Inserted: 11.02.2018
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New Zealand is full of beautiful waterfalls and finding the most beautiful one is definitely not easy. Bridal Veil Falls in the Waikato area is definitely one of them and for many visitors it is even the most beautiful. If you go to the waterfall just before dark and you are not afraid of darkness and night jungle, one really magical surprise will be waiting for you right next to the waterfall – the so-called ** glowworms **, and you will probably not come across another visitor here.

To the waterfall
Author: Tony Výborný © gigaplaces.com

To the waterfall

The waterfall is located about 20 km south of the seaside town of Raglan. Directly from the parking lot, the path leads along a stream, typically through New Zealand jungle. After a short while you can hear the noise of a nearby waterfall and after 10 minutes we come to the abyss with a 55m high waterfall. There are four views of the waterfall itself. The first is right at its mouth and offers a view down into the abyss. A few meters below there is a second viewpoint, this time to the whole waterfall and the pool that dug the waterfall.

Bride's veil
Author: Tony Výborný © gigaplaces.com

Bride's veil

Bridal Veil Falls is a typical example of a ** plunge ** waterfall, which is formed by a waterfall falling where the rock is harder on the surface than below. Gradually, the rock under the waterfall is eroded to its current form, when the water falls without touching the rock along the entire length of the fall. The third viewpoint is again reached through the jungle, but this time not on the way, but down the stairs. From this viewpoint it is beautiful to see why the waterfall is called ** Bridal Veil ** (bride's veil).

Bottom view

We continue up the stairs to the last lookout, where the waterfall looks like a long thin strip of water. However, when we hit the surface of the lake, we see and hear how high and powerful the waterfall itself is.

Bottom view
Author: Tony Výborný © gigaplaces.com

Glowworms

Because we didn't reach the waterfall until late in the evening and the lights were fading fast, I photographed the waterfall for long exposures until it was almost dark. As we left, we noticed a small light in the jungle next to the lower lookout. We were interested in that. That a firefly? On closer inspection, the lights became more and more visible and it became clear to us what they were. A special species of insect lives in New Zealand, whose larvae (** Glowworm **) can produce light, similar to our fireflies. Its Latin name ** Arachnocampa Luminosa ** may remind someone of spiders (arachno), but there is no need to worry. There is perhaps nothing dangerous or scary in Zealand except small pungent flies – you won't really come across spiders or snakes here. This insect has a name similar to spiders because of the way it catches its prey. As larvae, they live almost throughout their lives and form a nest of silk in damp and dark places (most often in caves, on rocks, sometimes in forests). The nest is then composed of channels in which they move and a network of silk fibers on which are chains of sticky droplets. The light then attracts prey to each other, which sticks to these chains.

Glowworms
Author: Tony Výborný © gigaplaces.com

Way back in the dark

Although we had headlights with us, we walked all the way up the stairs in the dark and held on to the railing, which in itself was magical due to the surrounding lights, but also slightly spooky – the sounds of an unknown jungle could be heard from all sides. We stopped at one place and climbed into the jungle, where I set up a tripod for a camera and took a few more photos of glowing worms – unfortunately this is not good enough when visiting commercial caves like ** Waitomo cave **. In the dark, the waterfall is no longer visible from the upper vantage points, so we returned to the car along the path. This time with headlights. Here, too, there were still a few lights around the road to see, but rather only occasionally.

Way back in the dark
Author: Tony Výborný © gigaplaces.com
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Tony Výborný
11.02.2018 11:12
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