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GO NZ: Nine of the North Island s best waterfalls - where and how to find them
11 May, 2021 05:35 PM
6 minutes to read
The 60m Rere rock formation is about a 40-minute drive from Gisborne.
NZ Herald
Helen van Berkel goes in search of some of our most beautiful waterfalls
Bridal Veil Falls, Raglan
A 10-minute drive inland from Raglan, a narrow little stream rolls quietly along through the undergrowth. It makes almost no noise as it travels, brown from stirred up sediment. There s almost no sign of what s to come until it actually happens: a sudden 55m plunge down a basalt cliff to a shallow pool. After some time in the roiling cauldron of the pool, the water continues flowing again, quietly, peacefully, curling over rocks as though nothing happened.
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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