Huka Falls

The Huka Falls are a set of waterfalls on the Waikato River that drains Lake Taupo, which is the largest freshwater lake in Australasia. We needed to pass through Taupo on our way to Otorohanga and decided to spend a little time on the track that reaches the falls.


The day we were in Taupo there were a multitude of events. Ruben thinks Taupo might be the place for him if we come back to NZ. There is a lot of tourist traffic, but that means lots of stuff going on all time, especially athletic events. Ironman Lake Taupo is recently past and the day we were in town there was not only a cycling event but a 36-hour Oxfam walking event.
We thought we would be pretty smooth and follow the Oxfam markings backward to Huka Falls. We got turned around a few times, but we reached the falls. I have been trying to shake some kind of bug for the past week and I did not feel great during the two hours or so we were running, but I'm glad I made the effort to reach the falls.

Around 220,000 litres of water pour over the cliff face every second!

"Huka" means "foam" in Maori. 

The little boat is a jetboat that takes people very close to the falls.
The water is absolutely churning here so it must be a hang-on-tight ride!

Over one side of the bridge the water is quite calm.

After dropping over the falls the water is wild!

We followed the actual track back to Taupo rather than try to follow the Oxfam route and came across natural hot pools. Clearly this is a widely known attraction. There were several groups of people taking a soak and drinking a beer (by the way, "beer" and "bear" sound the same in Kiwi)