I'm on a Waterfall

See that waterfall?

We totally hiked to the top. That's right, from the ground.

It was a beautiful hike, with mossy boulders, palm trees, and sturdy bridges over the stream.

At times it was also very, very steep.

This was the halfway point, which took us about 45 minutes to reach.

Here it is again, with some geeks for scale:

We hiked up the muddy, slippery slopes for another 45 minutes.  As we worked our way towards the waterfall, the air became very cool and damp. It was also strangely quiet and devoid of wildlife - we saw no animals except for a few birds. No snakes, squirrels, lizards or even slugs. It was kind of strange. There were a few other hikers, including a few people who were actually running up the mountain - unbelievable. At one point there was a sign pointing to an "Ancient Maori Trail - Very Steep and Not Maintained." And I thought "wow, how cool it would be to go down that," but decided it was probably not wise to attempt while wearing Converse. 

When we reached the top, the stream seemed deceptively calm and still.

Just a few yards down was the waterfall, we could see out over the whole valley.

A strong wind was blowing the waterfall upwards, right into our faces. Standing at the edge felt like standing in a lawn sprinkler of Biblical proportions.

These photos and my "lawn sprinkler" description don't really capture the power of the waterfall, so I also took a video, which gives a better impression of what it was like to be up there: