Waikoropupu Springs, New Zealand
Exploring the Able Tasman region will reward you with beautiful sights, peaceful experiences and revitalising experiences. One such place is a visit to Waikoropupu Springs, which is Golden Bay’s most popular attraction.
One of the interesting places we visited was Waikoropupu Springs which discharges 14 000 litres of water a second [the equivalent of 40 bath tubs a second.] These are the largest springs in Australasia and believed to be the cleanest fresh water in the world. The only place where there is clearer water is under the Antarctic ice. It was beautiful seeing all the colours which ranged from red to green.
Unfortunately the camera wasn’t able to capture the beauty of what we could see.
This used to be used by the Maori people as a religious site for their different rituals. But now to protect the Springs from pollution people are asked not to touch the water at all. In New Zealand there is a weed called didymo which comes from Australia and is polluting our water ways. Already a nearby spring had didymo growing in it.
At this point in time there doesn’t seem to be anything that can stop didymo from growing or spreading.
If you visit please respect the sacredness of this area.
Wow this is a great resource.. I’m enjoying it.. good article. We have been plan our Abel Tasman time. We don’t want to do the full walk. Having read your articles on what you did has given me ideas. This spring looks awesome – the colours don’t come out in the photo but I can imagine they must be very vivid.
Thanks Travel nurse for you comment. Yes the colours didn’t come out well – it is so hard to take vibrant pictures of water because of light reflection. The water was so crystal clear. You will enjoy your experience of this sacred Maori spot.
a sacred place indeed! I surely hope the spring will be protected.
I wish I can visit NZ in the future too!
yes the spring is protected. The biggest threat to the spring is didymo – a horrid water alga (nicknamed rock snot) that is polluting the NZ water. It had already started appearing in streams near the spring and is spread inadvertently by people, objects or machinery that isn’t washed and dried properly. Because of the risk they ask people not to touch, take water or enter the water. However, while we were there this was blatantly ignored!