Taupo

On route to our next destination we stopped off in Taupo to see the Huka Falls - the sun shining on the water made it a wonderful blue colour.





From here we headed to the Aratiatia Dam, the gates to which open three times a day to fill the valley for generation of electricity. This is the view down the valley before the gates opened.




At 10am the gates opened after loud warning sirens, with 90,000 litres of water passing through the gates every second.






The gates stay open for half an hour at a time by which time the valley is full and the rapids generated. This is a view back down the valley now full of water.





We then walked down stream to the view point to see back up to the dam gates.