Huka Falls

Everyone likes a visit to a good waterfall and the Huka Falls are well worth the time. The river Waikato flows from Lake Taupo on its journey to the Tasman sea just south of the city of Auckland and is the longest river in New Zealand. The river is wide, up to 100m in places, and fast flowing as it leaves the lake and heads towards the falls which are only a few kilometres from the town of Taupo on the lakes north eastern shore.

The fast flowing waters are suddenly channeled into a narrow gorge only 15m wide.  This forces a huge volume of water through narrow  gap resulting in a thunderous churning of the water. it changes in appearance to be the most striking blue caused by the incorporation of lots of air.

The waters then plunge down a 10m drop. Not the largest in the world but certainly spectacular. Over 200,000 litres of water pass over the falls every second, enough to fill five olympic sized swimming pools every minute. That is a phenomenal volume of water and a very impressive sight.