Hunua Falls facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hunua Falls |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
 Location in New Zealand Auckland
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Infobox_mapframe at line 185: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Location | Hunua |
| Coordinates | 37°04′07″S 175°05′23″E / 37.06861°S 175.08972°E |
| Elevation | 60 metres (200 ft) |
| Total height | 30 metres (98 ft) |
The Hunua Falls are a beautiful waterfall in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. They are located near a place called Hunua, on the Wairoa River.
The land around the falls was bought by the city of Auckland between 1940 and 1960. This was done to help supply water to the city. The amount of water flowing over the falls can change a lot. Sometimes there's a lot of water, and other times there's less. You can see how different the falls look in old photos from winter and summer.
Contents
Amazing Natural Features
The Wairoa River flows over a type of hard rock called basalt. This basalt rock is like a "lava plug" that was left behind from an ancient volcano.
If you look closely at the eastern wall of the waterfall, you can see other cool volcanic rocks. These include tuff rings, which are made from volcanic ash, and lava bombs, which are chunks of lava thrown out by a volcano.
Plants Around the Falls
Many interesting plants grow near Hunua Falls. Some of these include water starwort, a plant called Crassula hunua, water pennywort, and wood-sorrel.
Other Waterfalls Nearby
The Wairoa River has other smaller waterfalls too. One of these is called Lily Falls, also known as Wairoa Falls. It was once described as being about 70 ft (21 m) high. Lily Falls is located about 3 mi (4.8 km) downstream from Hunua Falls, in the Wairoa Gorge. A photograph of Lily Falls was published in 1901.
Fun Things to Do at Hunua Falls
Hunua Falls is a great place to visit and enjoy nature. There are walking tracks that lead into the wider Hunua Ranges.
You can also enjoy two shorter walks that take about 30 minutes each:
- The Lookout Walk
- The Upper Lookout Walk
The cliffs around the falls are also used for abseiling. This is an exciting activity where people use ropes to climb down steep rock faces.
