Hunua Falls

The Wairoa River drops about thirty metres over the rim of an old volcanic crater into a deep round pool ringed by bush, and because the car park is five minutes away the falls are one of the easiest big waterfalls to reach anywhere near Auckland. The pool looks made for swimming and people have drowned in it: the water is deep, cold, and there is a circulating current at the base of the fall that holds things under. Council signs advise against swimming and they mean it. Tracks lead up to a lookout above the falls and on into the Hunua Ranges, which are the larger attraction - a big block of regenerating forest with the reservoirs that supply most of Auckland's drinking water, and kokako, reintroduced and now breeding here. As in the Waitakeres, kauri dieback closures affect some tracks; check before relying on a route.

What you actually see

• The thirty-metre fall - over the old crater rim into the pool.
• The lookout - the track up to the top of the falls.
• The Hunua bush - regenerating forest and the water reservoirs.
• Kokako - reintroduced and calling in the ranges.

When to go

October to April. After heavy rain the falls are dramatic and the tracks are mud. Weekends bring picnic crowds to the car park area.

Honest expectations

Do not swim in the plunge pool - the current at the base has killed people, and the warning is not decorative. Some tracks are closed for kauri dieback. No shops; the nearest are in Clevedon or Papakura.

Nearby

Clevedon village and the Firth of Thames coast are east; Auckland is an hour north.