Huka Falls

Huka Falls
Huka Falls.
Location	Taupo, New Zealand
Coordinates	38°38′58″S 176°05′23″E / 38.649497°S 176.089683°E / -38.649497; 176.089683
Type	Cascade
Watercourse	Waikato River and Lake Taupo
Average flow rate	200 m³/s (200,000 litres every second)

The Huka Falls are a set of waterfalls on the Waikato River that drains Lake Taupo in New Zealand.

A few hundred metres upstream from the Huka Falls, the Waikato River narrows from approximately 100 metres across into a canyon only 15 metres across. The canyon is carved into lake floor sediments laid down before Taupo's Oruanui eruption 26,500 years ago.^[1]

The volume of water flowing through often approaches 220,000 litres per second. The flow rate is regulated by Mighty River Power through the Taupo Control Gates as part of their hydro system planning, with Waikato Regional Council dictating flows during periods of downstream flooding in the Waikato River catchment.

At the top of the falls is a set of small waterfalls dropping over about 8 metres. The final stage of the falls is over a 6-metre drop, raised to an effective 11m fall by the depth of the water. The falls are a popular tourist attraction, being close to Taupo and readily accessible from State Highway One.

The falls featured in a national scandal in February 1989 when the body of cricket umpire Peter Plumley-Walker was found downstream, with wrists and ankles bound. The resulting investigation exposed the Auckland bondage scene. Dominatrix Renee Chignall was acquitted of his murder after three trials.^[2]

• 
  The narrow canyon, with the tourist bridge visible at the top left.
• 
  Looking upstream against the fast and powerful current of Huka Falls
• 
  Jetboat near the base of Huka Falls
• 
  The Huka falls and the observation point

See also

• Waterfalls of New Zealand
• About the Huka Falls

References