Wairoa River (Bay of Plenty) Wairoa River (Bay of Plenty) The Wairoa River runs north into Tauranga Harbour at the western end of the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. In the mid-1970s the Tauranga Joint Generation Committee proposed a hydroelectric power scheme for the Wairoa River. The newly formed Kaimai Canoe Club (established by Barry Anderson, Bill Ross, Kerry Smith and Peter Entwistle) opposed the scheme at the water rights headings, this was on the grounds that it would destroy fishing, sport and recreation for existing and future generations. A compromise was arrived at by allowing the release of water 26 days
Wairoa River (Bay of Plenty) as a warm-up. The first major rapid is "Mother's Nightmare" - a long Grade IV rapid finishing with a 2-metre drop. Then follow the few grade III rapids (Helicopter, Double Trouble & Devils Elbow/Washing Machine). Then comes the two Grade V sections, "Top Waterfall" (a small drop into a hole followed by a three-metre drop) and Roller Coaster. After that there is a Grade III rock garden, a Whitewater Slalom gorge and few short grade III rapids leading up to the grade III "Bottom Waterfall" (another two metre drop). Wairoa River (Bay of Plenty) The Wairoa River runs north into