When life gives you rain, take photos of waterfalls

Our plans for today were disrupted by heavy rain falling all morning. What better to do with a rain day than go in search of waterfalls. The raging torrent at Owharoa Falls looked nothing like the pretty tranquil waterfall with a swimming hole below that the pictures show. Instead, the water boiled and danced, full of energy as it rushed urgently downhill.

It reminded us of other times that we went to check out waterfalls after heavy rain. Most often in the Yorkshire Dales which are famous for their waterfalls. Aysgarth Falls, just up the road from Leyburn, we swung by many times to check out how much energy was dancing above the falls.

We like waterfalls at any time, with or without the energy given to them by heavy rainfall. We like dramatic ones that plunge over cliffs such as Waireinga/Bridal Veil Falls which we visited recently, raging torrents with huge volumes of water racing urgently somewhere, picturesque ones in gorgeous settings. Here’s a selection of our favourite waterfalls in the places we’ve lived or visited.

The Waireinga or Bridal Veil Falls, near Raglan, are one of the most spectacular plunges over a cliff face, falling 55m into the pool below. The setting in beautiful native bush adds to the pleasure of a visit here.

This is Hardraw Force in Yorkshire, with me behind the falls to let you see how high these falls are. Their particular claim to fame is that you access them through the Green Dragon pub!