Aratiatia Rapids

The Aratiatia Rapids are an area of New Zealand river rapids downstream from the dam for the Aratiatia Power Station on the Waikato River. The rapids are extremely dangerous.

Aratiatia Rapids with open spill gates.

Before construction of the dam and hydro station, the Aratiatia Rapids were a prominent feature on the Waikato River, and became a scenic reserve in 1906.[1] The dam construction meant that no water flowed over the rapids. However, several times a day, the Aratiatia dam gates are opened, which restores the rapids to their normal operation.[2]

There are three lookout points to watch the Dam release into the rapids, watching the release is a popular tourist attraction.[3]

In Māori, aratiatia means "stairway" or "ladder", possibly referring to the zigzag shape of the rapids, or possibly referring to the path (ara) of Tia, an explorer who travelled up the rapids against the current.[4]

References
  1. "Our picturesque heritage: 100 years" (PDF). Department of Conservation. 2003.
  2. "About the Aratiatia Rapids". Destination Great Lake Taupo. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  3. "Aratiatia Rapids". Love Taupo.
  4. Reed, A.W. (1975). Place names of New Zealand. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. p. 16.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.