Lava Glass, Huka Falls and Aratiatia Dam

A few years ago, I went to Lava Glass and interviewed chief-glass-blower, Lynden Over. Coming back many years later, the sculpture garden is a welcome addition. The children enjoyed seeing how the glass works were created and then running about the park and eating at the cafe.

Mum in the glass flower garden

Of course, a trip to Taupo must include a visit to the Huka Falls. The mighty Waikato River narrows from 100m across to squeeze, gush and froth through a canyon 15m wide. The power of the water is noisy and impressive.

The Weevil and family striking poses

Natural fern unfurling

Artificial flax unfurling

Upstream: the calm before the waterfall

The Aratiatia Power Station is a hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River 13km downstream from Lake Taupo. Before the dam was constructed (in 1964), the Aratiatia Rapids were quite a feature, but the dam stopped the water from flowing over them. Now the gates are opened several times a day (and the times are well-publicized) to recreate this effect, while public viewing platforms allow for people to enjoy the experience of the turbulent waters. 

Apparently the rapids were used for a scene from The Hobbit in which Bilbo Baggins rescues some dwarves from some elves by putting them in barrels and sending them downstream. As I am boycotting the film, I couldn't possibly comment, but it does make it a popular hobbit-spotters' hang-out.

Week Ten: Mt Creighton Track

Another page from the 'what a wonderful place we live' files. We went for a walk around the Mt Creighton Loop, past mining evidence of sluicings and water races, with tunnels carved through rock and other stone erosions. Sam Summers' hut can still be used by trampers although the pots look a little rusty and the sagging matresses aren't the most tempting.

Beautiful beech and manuka forests line the track and the plunging waterfalls with a stream that looks like a glistening staircase. Above the trees, the views of the lakes and mountains are stunning and the plenteous dragonflies swoop and dive across the sunny, soporific meadows.