Huka Falls, New Zealand

Jack and Isabel Bain from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia did a round the world post retirement trip in 1966. These photographs shows Huka Falls, New Zealand in October 1966.

The Huka Falls are a set of waterfalls on the Waikato River that drains Lake Taupō 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 Taupō's Oruanui eruption 26,500 years ago.[2]

The volume of water flowing through often approaches 220,000 litres per second. The flow rate is regulated by Mercury NZ Ltd through the Taupō 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. Mercury NZ have ability to control the flows between 50,000 litres per second (or 50 m3/s) and 319,000 litres per second (319 m3/s).

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 Taupō and readily accessible from State Highway One. (Wikipedia)