Cowan - Pararaha: Waitakeres Stream Bash

Christmas Eve 2010. I signed up to a stream bash led by Tom Goodman, who was keen to make room for extra desserts the following day. I had pictured an easy walk down a stream, maybe ankle to calf deep water, a pleasant day's walk in the bush...

Could not have been MORE the opposite! Before we knew it, the only trail was an airborne one, Tom was flying off the 6 metre ledge into the waterfall pool, he bounced off the bottom, collected his pack and calmly swam out for the next one... It was non-stop adrenaline for a full two hours. I found out later that this, the Piha Gorge Stream Bash, was the easy one: Cowan-Pararaha was where it was at.

Challenge accepted!

Jess turned up ready for a 2 hour run. Next minute...

Saturday 17th September. A planned trip to the Kaimanawas was cancelled at last minute, so we needed to act fast if we were going to keep the weekend alive. An un-planned trip to the Cowan-Pararaha stream bash was born. Myself, Ben Duggan, Helen Liley and Jess Shaw were the contenders, but little did they know of what was ahead of them.

Scaling down waterfalls...

Holding on for dear life...

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Extending parachutes for landing...

Tree, Branch, Pool!

Relentless waterfalls...

Mogambo!

Taking a moment to ponder the situation...

We followed the stream all the way out to the ocean, and now that we'd finally dried off, cue Mother Nature - the wild west coast wouldn't have been wild enough without some rain!

The Cowan-Pararaha Stream Bash rates in my books as one of the best day trips in the Waitakeres, so get out there and jump off some waterfalls!

PS: Thanks to Stephen Molineux, Ben Duggan, and NZTopoMaps.com for their awesome photos. ENGGEN204 you have taught me something.