{{Short description|Waterfall in Tasman, New Zealand}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{good article}} {{Infobox waterfall | name = Wainui Falls | photo = Wainui Falls.jpg | photo_caption = Wainui Falls in December 2017 | photo_width = 275 | location = Wainui Bay, Tasman, New Zealand. | coords = {{Coord|-40.84924|172.92765|display=inline,title|type:landmark|name=Wainui Falls}}<ref name="NZtopo">{{Cite web |url=http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz41296/Wainui-Falls/Tasman |title=NZTopoMap – Wainui Falls, Tasman |date=2017-11-15 |website=topomap.co.nz |access-date=2018-01-08}}</ref> | watercourse = [[Wainui River (Tasman)|Wainui River]] | type = Horsetail<ref name="WaterfallsNZ" /> | height = {{convert|20|m|ft|}}<ref name="WaterfallsNZ" /><ref name="WOWF" /><ref name="GB Weekly" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oq_vC80Tzc4C |title=1001 Best Things to See and Do in New Zealand |last=Janssen |first=Peter |publisher=Hachette New Zealand Ltd |year=2010 |isbn=9781869712341 |location=Auckland New Zealand|edition=Second }}</ref> | average_flow = | map = New Zealand | map_width = 200 | map_label = Wainui Falls | map_label_position = right }}
'''Wainui Falls''' is a {{convert|20|m|ft|adj=on}} waterfall in [[Wainui Bay]], in the [[Tasman District|Tasman]] region of [[New Zealand]].<ref name="WaterfallsNZ">{{Cite web |url=http://waterfalls.co.nz/waterfalls-by-region/224-new-zealand-waterfalls/south-island/tasman/abel-tasman-national-park/254-wainui-falls |title=Wainui Falls |website=Waterfalls.co.nz |access-date=2018-01-09}}</ref><ref name="WOWF">{{Cite web |url=https://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/new-zealand-wainui-falls.html |title=Wainui Falls |last=Cheng |first= Johnny |website=World of Waterfalls |access-date=2018-01-09}}</ref> The waterfall is part of the [[Wainui River (Tasman)|Wainui River]] and cascades over [[granite]] bedrock into a deep pool at its base.<ref name="WOWF" /><ref name="DOC" /> It is the largest and most accessible waterfall in the [[Abel Tasman National Park]] and the [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]]-[[Golden Bay / Mohua|Golden Bay]] area, and can be reached via the short Wainui Falls Track.<ref name="WaterfallsNZ" /><ref name="seethesouthisland">{{Cite web |url=https://seethesouthisland.com/hiking-wainui-falls-abel-tasman-national-park-new-zealand/ |title=Hiking to Wainui Falls, Abel Tasman National Park |last=Algie |first=Jon |date=2017-05-09 |website=seethesouthisland.com |access-date=2018-01-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3UFgCwAAQBAJ |title=DK Eyewitness Travel Guide New Zealand |last=DK Travel |publisher=Dorling Kindersley Ltd |year=2002 |isbn=9780241263242 |edition=2016 |location=London |pages=218}}</ref> The track is popular as a day walk among tourists, and while the waters of the Wainui River can be too cold for swimming much of the year, the [[plunge pool]] is a favoured swimming hole in the summer months.<ref name="seethesouthisland" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjViXwAACAAJ |title=Walks to Waterfalls: 100 New Zealand Waterfalls |last=Kirkpatrick |first=Russell |date=2011 |publisher=David Bateman |isbn=9781869538064 |pages=86 |language=en |quote= "The plunge pool is popular with swimmers in the summer, who refresh themselves after their 20-minute diversion."}}</ref>
==Location== The falls are located up the valley from Wainui Bay, within the Abel Tasman National Park.<ref name="NZtopo" /><ref name="DOC" /> The nearest town is [[Tākaka]], a {{convert|20|km|mi|adj=on}} drive away,<ref name="DOC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/nelson-tasman/places/abel-tasman-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/wainui-falls-track/ |title=Wainui Falls Track |website=doc.govt.nz |access-date=2018-01-09}}</ref> and the nearest city is [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]], around a 2.5 hours' drive.<ref name="WaterfallsNZ" />
{{anchor|Track}}
==Wainui Falls Track== The waterfall can be reached via the Wainui Falls Track, a {{convert|3.4|km|mi|abbr=on}} round-trip bush walk that follows the Wainui River up to the waterfall.<ref name="DOC" /> The track is accessed via a carpark at the end of Wainui Falls Rd, {{convert|300|m|ft|abbr=on}} from the main road (Abel Tasman Drive).<ref name="NZtopo" /> A cafe and toilets are available at the carpark area.<ref name="seethesouthisland" /> The track takes about 1 to 1.5 hours round-trip.<ref name="WaterfallsNZ" /><ref name="DOC" />
The track meanders through a native forest of [[ferns]], [[Nīkau|nīkau palms]], and [[Metrosideros umbellata|rātā trees]].<ref name="GB Weekly" /><ref name="DOC" /> Giant carnivorous land snails of the genus ''[[Powelliphanta]]'', among the largest land snails in the world, can sometimes be found on the forest floor near the track.<ref name="DOC" />
The waterfall has been a popular sightseeing destination since at least the early 20th century.<ref name="GB Weekly" /><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC19160128.2.25 |title=NEWS OF THE DAY. |date=1916-01-28 |work=The Colonist |access-date=2018-01-10 |language=en |quote="In view of the forthcoming show and races (says our Takaka correspondent) the hotels and boarding-houses are extending their sleeping accommodation in all manner of ways to cope with the expected influx of visitors to our green and fertile valley. Those who have arrived already are charmed with the trip over, and equally charmed with everything they have seen here. The Babu Springs, Rawhiti Caves, Tarakoehe and its cement works, Pohara Beach, Wainui Falls and Handcock's falls, have all received record attention during the past week. Every steamer, every car, brings a fresh load of sightseers and pleasure seekers, and still they come."}}</ref> Older locals report that "in the early days" when people used to drive out to the track in [[Ford Model T]]s, the track was very steep and that it was common for trampers to fall in the river.<ref name="GB Weekly" />
The track was closed for maintenance in 2015 for several months while the track was re-engineered and a new 10-person-capacity [[suspension bridge]] was built to replace the old suspension bridge, which was a one-at-a-time crossing and could result in significant queues during summer months.<ref name="GB Weekly">{{Cite news |url=http://www.gbweekly.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015_gbweekly30october.pdf |title=Wainui Falls track re-opens |last=Richards |first=Jo |date=2015-10-30 |work=Golden Bay Weekly |access-date=2018-01-09 |archive-date=8 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108175057/http://www.gbweekly.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015_gbweekly30october.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The bridge crosses the Wainui River above large granite blocks and tumbled logs that pile up after winter floods.<ref name="GB Weekly" /><ref name="DOC" /> While some locals lamented that the track had lost a bit of its charm and feeling of danger (with regards to the old bridge), they also commented that it was a huge benefit that the track was now more accessible to everyone.<ref name="GB Weekly" /> The track is maintained by the New Zealand [[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)|Department of Conservation]].<ref name="GB Weekly" /><ref name="DOC" />
==In Māori mythology== In the [[Māori mythology|mythology]] of the local Tākaka [[Māori people|Māori]], a ''[[taniwha]]'' (water guardian) called Ngārara Huarau terrorises a local village, who eventually retaliate by killing the monster. Upon the ''taniwha's'' death, its severed tail lands in the pool at the base of Wainui Falls. The rocks downstream from the falls have rusty red-brown staining that the story attributes to the seepage of blood from the tail.<ref name="Mythology">{{Cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Hilary |author-link=Hilary Mitchell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFb8fALKJuIC&q=isbn:1869690877 |title=History of Māori of Nelson and Marlborough |last2=Mitchell |first2=John |author-link2=John Mitchell (historian) |publisher=Huia Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=1869690877 |location=Wellington New Zealand |pages=23–25}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Wainui Falls Tyree Collection 1.jpg|Sightseers visiting Wainui Falls, late 1800s or early 1900s. From the Tyree Collection. File:Wainui River Tyree Collection 1.jpg|Sightseers in the Wainui River and another small waterfall visible from the Wainui Falls Track (not Wainui Falls).<ref name="NZNationalParks">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nznationalparks.com/Abel-Tasman-National-Park/Abel-Tasman-National-Park-Wainui-Falls.html#15|title=Wainui Falls - Abel Tasman National Park|website=nznationalparks.com|access-date=2018-01-09}}</ref> Late 1800s or early 1900s. From the Tyree Collection. File:Wainui Falls in full flow.jpg|Falls in full flow, 2015 </gallery>
==See also== * [[List of waterfalls]] * [[List of waterfalls in New Zealand]]
==References== {{notelist}} {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/nelson-tasman/places/abel-tasman-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/wainui-falls-track/ Department of Conservation] *[http://www.nznationalparks.com/Abel-Tasman-National-Park/Abel-Tasman-National-Park-Wainui-Falls.html#15 NZNationalParks] *[https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Attractions-g776842-Activities-Abel_Tasman_National_Park_Nelson_Tasman_Region_South_Island.html Tripadvisor]
{{Abel Tasman National Park}} {{Tasman District}}
[[Category:Waterfalls of New Zealand]] [[Category:Hiking and tramping tracks in the Tasman District]] [[Category:Abel Tasman National Park]] [[Category:Landforms of the Tasman District]]