The thing I love about traveling is how much it helps you appreciate what you have back home. Here in North Carolina, we are truly fortunate to have so many natural wonders right in our back yard. While we were in NZ, I realized that we don’t take advantage of how much our state has to offer. So I decided that it was high time to become a tourist in my own state.

If you are looking for the beginning of the New Zealand Trip, Start Here.

One of the things we really enjoyed was hiking to the top of random mountains to take in the view. I checked out a list of National Parks near us and decided on Hanging Rock.

So we loaded up the car with our dog, Chai, our friend Sally, and K’s mom, Peggy. A mere 2 hours later we were just a short walk to Cascade Falls.

Peggy and Sally taking in the view

Then we took our packed lunches up to the summit of Hanging Rock. Only trouble was, that we weren’t the only ones who thought this was a great day for a walk…

I think I can see Peggy from here..

But it was totally worth the view for our lunch

Chai doesn’t like when I get too close to the edge

This place would be amazing for bouldering and rock climbing. So just a reminder to have fun in your own state. Next week, the ZOO!!