Te Te Waikoropupu Waikoropupu SpringsSpringsKnown by most as “Pupu

Springs”, they are situated in the Golden Bay – Takaka

region of the South Island (northern part of the Island). I could go on at length about them, but the links provided

at the end will provide all the information one would want, as well as photographs, quite

a few taken from in the water, which is now not

allowed by law. The water in the springs is supposedly

some of the clearest in the world.

A viewing deck over the spring, allows people to view directly below to one of the spring vents. The structure seen on the deck contains a periscope, so as to be able to see the bottom.

Looking at the bottom of the spring through the periscope.

Viewing the springs in the area is about a half-

hour walk. It was an overcast day, that

turned to drizzle later in the day. When I first

visited the springs in 1968, the area around

the springs was essentially paddocks. It

was great to see the regrowth of native bush that has taken place in the area; the only area of paddock now was a

portion of where the main spring emerges,

where the photo of the birds (Pukeko, Purple

Swamphen) was taken.

The last two photographs were taken from the bridge leading to the springs. The next shots were taken at a hydro power station, which is located quite close to the springs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take the walks around the area, as my co-traveler had twisted one of her legs.

There is a walk to and along the race at

the top of the hill. I was impressed by the amount of electricity generated by such a

small hydro scheme.

The photo at left is the exit of the water from the hydro scheme. The one above shows a Wattle tree in full flower in early August, on the way out from the hydro road.

A mural seen in the town of Takaka.

Should you want to see more of the springs, here are some of the links for you to see more photos and information . . .

http://www.seafriends.org.nz/images/pupu.htm

http://www.dreamlike.info/nzl/nel/pu/pupusprings.htm

http://www.cuil.com/search?q=Pupu+Springs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupu_Springs

Wikipedia has pictures taken on a good day and Seafriends has excellent shots, both above and under the water. Once again, right click to “End Show”