Aratiatia Rapids in Taupo – Day 305, Part 1

Today we’re having a super rapid filled day with the Rapids Jet and the Aratiatia Dam.

Uh oh, I am never a fan of arriving at an attraction with a big warning sign but we’re still going to show you the awesome Aratiatia Dam which is our quick pitstop before our activity today which is Rapids Jet.

Yes, although our main activity today is the Rapids Jet we could not resist in showing you guys the Aratiatia Dam and the awesome rapids it makes.

Alright so the story behind the Aratiatia Dam is that it opens up 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm in summer every single day this is to help release the water of Lake Taupo and it fills this entire valley of water.

So I want to white water raft that rapid over there but Laura doesn’t want to let me do so.

However, the reason there is so much water right now and we are not showing you the release is because today they are actually working on some maintenance. It happens from time to time and that means that the gates are fully open for the whole day. Usually you can see this dry lush valley being completely filled with water it’s amazing.

So Laura is about picture 64 right now.

So there is about three or four different lookout points on the Aratiatia Rapids so we are kind of making our way down the valley to go check out all the different look outs that there is. They are all very popular so we expect to see crowds of people. Not as many as Huka Falls. But still crowds of people.

I can’t wait.

There are several different walkways to make your way to three different lookouts overlooking the Aratiatia Rapids. And these rapids are produced by the waitako river literally falling 28m in the space of 1km and that’s what forms these amazing rapids which to be fair look more impressive than Huka Falls in my opinion.

And actually if you want to see both the Huka Falls and Aratiatia Dam they’re not actually that far away from each other. there’s even a walkway linking the two rapids together and that takes four hours return and you can even do it by bike as well.

For all you Lord of the Rings fans out there this is actually a filming location of the famous Barrell Run Scene in The Hobbit they actually chucked about 25 barrels down these rapids in the making of the Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit or whichever movie it was.

If you guys remember we actually visited another filming location of that very scene on the South Island on the Pelorus River when we did some kayaking which we’ll link up in the cards above if you’re interested.

This place is looking absolutely amazing and you guys will notice that we didn’t actually count that as an activity you didn’t see the little activity counter at the bottom it’s just because it’s just a really nice pitstop and our activity today is gonna be our jetboat tour a little later on. But we just couldn’t miss checking this place out. It’s absolutely amazing.

The water looks so blue. The water is actually super clear and because it’s that clear it does reflect blue light giving it this really blue colour plus all the little bubbles of air from all the torrential waters is actually making it even clearer and making it even bluer it’s absolutely amazing.

Laura is taking a million pictures. She’s not anymore.

The Aratiatia Dam is well worth checking out if you are here at the right time and just as a reminder those times are 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm in summer but for us we’re making it back to the car park now and onto our next activity.

Next time on New Zealand’s biggest Gap Year day 305 part 2 yes 305 oh my God, how long have we been on the road? Well, actually 305 days. Anyway we are taking you to Rapids Jet it’s probably one of the most thrilling rapids jet boat in New Zealand actually it’s the only jet boat ride in New Zealand that takes us through rapids it’s gonna be exhilarating and we’re gonna be soaked actually genuinely soaked after this epic jet boat don’t miss it and hit subscribe so you don’t miss out ever.

It really gets you up close and intimate with… it really get you up close and intimate with the rapids oh. I am having a hiccup right here. So yeah so the view is absolutely brilliant.