Wairere Falls
Wairere Falls from the viewing platform
LocationWaikato, New Zealand
TypeTiered
Total height153m
WatercourseWairere Stream

Wairere Falls, the highest waterfall in New Zealand's North Island,[1] plunges 153 metres (500 feet) in two steps over the Kaimai escarpment.[2]

Wairere Falls in April 2010 (upper lookout to right) and May 2023 (after heavy rain) from the lower lookout

The waterfall is located between Te Aroha and Matamata.[1] A walking track runs from the car park at the end of Goodwin Road, up the valley of the stream to a viewing platform, and thence to the top of the plateau and the crest of the falls. Once at the top one can continue onto the North South track that runs the length of the Kaimai Ranges. The track is about 5 km (3.1 mi) return to the lower lookout[3] and climbs about 380 m (1,250 ft) from Goodwin Road to the top of the falls.[4]

The Wairere Falls receives around 60,000 visitors each year.[5] In 2017, the farmer who owned land close to the falls closed off a paddock to stock and constructed a seat for visitors that he dubbed "The international seat of peace".[6]

A road from Te Aroha to the falls was built between 1886[7] and 1892, when a coach service was started.[8] It was extended about 1915.[9] In 1903 the falls were considered for hydro power,[10] but were protected by declaration as a Scenic Reserve on 12 November 1908.[11]

The Kaimai Range's western boundary is the Hauraki Fault. This part of the Range is formed of Waiteariki Formation, a crystal-rich, welded, dacite ignimbrite.[12] The rock was erupted about 2.1m years ago.[13]

Ngāti Hinerangi value Te Wairere Falls as the place where an early explorer, Ngahue, killed a moa, to use for food on his voyage back to Hawaiki.[14] They used the Wairere track during the 1864 Tauranga campaign. In July 1896 the Native Land Court gave ownership of the falls to the Crown. A deed of settlement between Ngāti Hinerangi and the Crown, redressing some of the unjust Crown actions, was signed on 4 May 2019.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Waikato offers mighty good fun these school holidays". NZ Herald. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  2. ↑ Jock Phillips. Waterfalls – Causes of waterfalls, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage. ISBN 978-0-478-18451-8. Updated 21 September 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  3. ↑ "Wairere Falls Track". www.doc.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Wairere Falls, Waikato". NZ Topo Map. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  5. ↑ Blommerde, Chloe (22 November 2020). "Waikato farmer closes popular tourist attraction at Wairere Falls". Stuff. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Hope, Sharnae (17 March 2020). "The man behind Wairere Falls' international seat of peace". Stuff. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL. Te Aroha News". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 4 December 1886. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "THE WAIRERE FALLS. Thames Advertiser". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 10 March 1892. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "Matamata County Council. Te Aroha News". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 4 June 1915. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "Local and General. Thames Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 16 October 1903. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Reserves made in 1908-9 under the Scenery Preservation Acts". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1909. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  12. ↑ Rotorua 1 to 250,000 geological map (Map). GNS. 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  13. ↑ Adrian Pittari, Marlena L. Prentice, Oliver E. McLeod, Elham Yousef Zadeh, Peter J. J. Kamp, Martin Danišík & Kirsty A. Vincent (3 December 2020). "Inception of the modern North Island (New Zealand) volcanic setting: spatio-temporal patterns of volcanism between 3.0 and 0.9 Ma" (PDF). p. 257.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "Deed of Settlement between Ngāti Hinerangi and the Crown" (PDF). 4 May 2019.
  15. ↑ "Ngāti Hinerangi deed of settlement" (PDF). 4 May 2019.

37°44′02″S 175°52′48″E / 37.734°S 175.88°E / -37.734; 175.88

View from the top of the falls
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