Aratiatia Rapids

[fokker]

Aratiatia Dam is the first of 8 hydro dams on the Waikato River, which runs from Taupo (middle of the North Island, New Zealand) out to Port Waikato. As part of the resource consent for the dam to operate, they have to preserve the Aratiatia Rapids, which was a famous attraction before the dam was built in the 1960's. In order to do this, they let water through for two half-hour periods each day to re-create the rapids through the short gorge which comes out the other end alongside the outfall from the power station.

This series shows the water rising and flowing through the rapids as they open the dam spillway.

And a couple of other shots of the same. Note the steam clouds in the distance, which are from the geothermal steam fields in Wairakei and Tauhara. I just had my last day at work today at the geothermal power station, so I thought it was fitting that I slacked off for a couple of hours to take some photos around the place.

 

[JasonLambert]

I have to say... I love these dam photos! :lmao:

 

[fokker]

Yeah, it was worth the long dam walk, which I had to do rapid-ly in order to make it in time.

 

[syphlix]

the series would be really cool done as a timelapse!

 

[Morpheuss]

those are some good dam photos very beautiful

 

[bevoholic]

Beautiful pictures!

 

[rickabobaloey]

Dam! I wish I lived near one.

Took me like 5 times looking at the photos to notice the movement of the dam water! :lmao:

Nice capture! :thumbup:

Did you use a tripod?

 

[ConcretePicture]

Very cool sequence.
I like the fifth picture because it shows the unbalanced amount of water upstream.
I always enjoy a little bit of the dark side of the river.

 

[fokker]

Dam! I wish I lived near one.

Took me like 5 times looking at the photos to notice the movement of the dam water! :lmao:

Nice capture! :thumbup:

Did you use a tripod?

Yeah these were all shot on a tripod.

Thanks for all the comments.