You see, the pool beneath Wairēinga looks like the perfect place to swim. It was a hot day when I visited, there hadn’t been too much rain – so the waterfall packed just enough punch to be interesting but not enough to scare off swimmers. But there’s a dark secret here at Wairēinga, which you’re unlikely to read in the Tourism Waikato brochure.
This geographic taonga, at the heart of rugged West Waikato, has been reduced to an open sewer.
GEORGIA ROSE LOCK/Stuff
Stuff columnist Glenn McConnell at the base of WairÄinga, near Raglan