Last year I was browsing through photographs of New Zealand online. I was doing this to get an idea of places and attractions that I would like to photograph and explore. Being a huge geology nerd Rotorua, and it’s surrounding thermal landscape, were number one on my list. While flicking through the images I came across a rapid river. It was named Huka Falls and it had the most vividly blue water I had ever seen and I have seen some vividly blue water in my time.

Huka Falls is located a short drive from Taupo, on the north island of New Zealand. It is said to be the most visited and photographed natural location in New Zealand.

It is formed by a narrowing of the Waikato River from it’s usually 100 metres to 15 metres. This forces a large volume of water to channel through a small area causing a number of rapids and waterfalls. At the top are a number of smaller falls, around 8 metres high, and the final drop is 11 metres high.

Unfortunately, my planing could have been better. I arrived there too late in the day and the light was extremely harsh. We did stay in Taupo that evening, although we had spent days on our feet and needed a night to rest before heading to the east coast the next day. It is one of the biggest lessons I have learned as a photographer in 2015: to make sure I plan enough time at locations and allow myself some rest in between.

I do plan to return there in the not too distant future and spend a few days in the area. Taupo, the town nearby is equally stunning and has a number of different places I would like to hike, photograph, and explore..

Below I have added a gallery that includes images I captured at Huka Falls. Also, I have added two more photographs. One looking out across beautiful Lake Taupo, and another taken on the scenic drive from Taupo to the coastal town of Napier.

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Huka Falls & Taupo Gallery

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