About Aniwaniwa Falls – Bridal Veil Falls, Momahaki Falls, and Te Tangi-o-Hinerau Falls
The Aniwaniwa Falls (aniwaniwa meaning “rainbow” in Maori) were really a set of three waterfalls along the Aniwaniwa River deep in Te Urewera National Park.
The falls sat near the eastern shores of the remote Lake Waikaremoana.
Given the brutally long and bumpy road to get this far into the nearly pristine reserve, the loop walk we took to experience all the waterfalls featured were a welcome break.
It also gave Julie and I a chance to experience more of the native bush scenery from outside of the rental car.
The waterfalls comprising Aniwaniwa Falls each had their own names – Bridal Veil Falls and the waterfall pairing (shown above) of Momahaki Falls and Te-Tangi-o-Hinerau.
Accessing the Aniwaniwa Falls
There were actually two different tracks on opposite sides of the Aniwaniwa River – the Aniwaniwa Falls Track and the Hinerau Track.
Julie and I only did enough of the Hinerau Track (which looped from the Aniwaniwa Visitor Centre) to see all of the waterfalls.
In hindsight, we probably should have also done the track on the north side of the river for a different perspective.
That said, the Hinerau Track started immediately behind the visitor centre.
Barely after a couple of minutes of downhill walking, we found a signed spur trail to our right that veered right to the calm plunge pool opposite the serene 15m Bridal Veil Falls.
This waterfall was also called Nga Makawe o Hinewai in the Maori tongue according to the signage here.
As much as we wanted to just chill out and relax at Bridal Veil Falls, we continued further downstream along the Hinerau Track until we reached the next signposted spur.
This time, it was for the pair of Momahaki Falls and Te-Tangi-o-Hinerau.
According to these signs, Momahaki Falls (the upper one) was said to be 15.2m and Te Tangi-o-Hinerau (the lower one) was said to be 11.2m.
The Hinerau Track spur that we took to get a better look at the waterfall pairing was complicated by thick overgrowth which conspired to obstruct the views as shown at the top of this page.
The spur track got increasingly steeper and more dangerous the further I went so I had to be content with the suboptimal views as I didn’t feel the risk was worth continuing on.
Julie and I spent a little under an hour doing just this part of the Hinerau Loop Track.
However, the DOC literature indicated that it was a 30-minute loop to do the Hinerau Track circuit or 20 minutes return for the Aniwaniwa Falls Track.
Authorities
The Aniwaniwa Falls reside in Te Urewera National Park between Rotorua and Wairoa in the East Coast region of North Island, New Zealand. They are administered under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
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