Optimistic beginnings

The Ōkere Falls Power Station was New Zealand’s first government built hydro-power station and the fourth place in the country to have a public electricity supply. However, the demands of the population overwhelmed supply by the end of 1901, its opening year. The construction of bigger stations nearby sealed its fate and the station closed on 30 September 1939.

A packed landscape

Access to the site begins at Ōkere Falls, leading up to Tutea Falls and Cave which guards Pikiao chief Tutea’s burial site. The cave is accessed by Hinemoa’s steps, created in 1907 and named after the infamous lover. The vulnerable would be hidden here to escape the inevitable conflicts over the river’s rich food sources - its name (Kaituna) translates to ‘eating eels’. The churning waters of the upper river and a nearby pā/hillfort were originally named Kōpuakino by Ngāti Pikiao, meaning ‘the awful whirlpool’.

International renown

The region has been a tourist draw since the 19 century, the spectacular waterfalls and abundant fishing making it an appealing stop along the way to the volcanic Tarawera or cultural Rotorua. Tutea Falls has attracted international attention as the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, its wild waterways creating the ideal adrenaline rush.