by Judith Elen from The AustralianJOHNNY T. Cheng is a waterfall enthusiast who has published books on falls in Norway and Yosemite National Park in California. His A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls (Story Nature Press, $US24.95) is a foray into New Zealand that covers more than 100 falls. This is a practical guide, with maps and clear driving directions plus the small details needed for choosing your visit and negotiating the falls once you get there.
There are at-a-glance indicators for scenic value, hiking and driving difficulty. And there's a brief summary of the difficulties associated with each place and the waterfall types. Then Cheng sets off, region by region, to cover the falls.
Using a particular area as a focus for each main section, he begins with a map, followed by a description of what you will find. He locates falls in regions such as Northland, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Hawke's Bay; numbered subsections deal with them one by one.
Colour photographs put readers in the mood: some of the falls are steep and majestic, others cascade in wide veils, while others shoot down, single and uncomplicated.
The array of possibilities will be lure enough for any fallophile to dream of exploring the gamut, ticking off, for example, the secretive unnamed waterfall 10 minutes from the end of the "demanding 17km tramp" that is the Tongariro Crossing ("six to eight hours without side trips"). Or the fanning, gauzy Shine Falls in the Hawke's Bay area, the tumultuous-looking Tarawera Falls, or the rock-tiered Bridal Veil, part of the Aniwaniwa Falls.
Near Ohakune on the volcanic slopes of Mt Ruapehu, Mangawhero Falls plunges 25m into a rocky grotto, but only when the mountain snows are melting in spring and early summer. It's here, in the crystalline pool at its foot (the Forbidden Pool), where Gollum goes fishing and is captured in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Set off on any of these trails and end up in a world of the imagination.
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