Awa ki te ao – Our river to the world

We’re not the only ones who think our awa is the most beautiful place in the world. The section of the Waikato river that we call home has starred in Hollywood films from The Hobbit to Yogi Bear.

Taupō and, in fact, the entire central North Island of Aotearoa, has been cast in many international and local films. This region’s hugely diverse terrain and spectacular geothermal features have seen it play the crucial supporting landscape role in worlds from Middle Earth to Minecraft.

Our very own AWA locations appear in two films that called for the unmatched white-water drama of the Aratiatia rapids. In The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug (2013), Bilbo Baggins and the 13 dwarves escape from their elven captors down the rapids, dodging boulders and arrow-stricken orcs along the way.

And in Yogi Bear (2010), the rocky cliffs and tree-lined shores of our section of the Waikato river stand in perfectly for Jellystone Park, the fictionalised Yellowstone Park where Yogi and his sidekick Boo-Boo stole pic-a-nic baskets and tormented Ranger Smith.

You can see these locations and so many more wonders from the comfort of our custom-built jetboats on both our Manutaki and Manukura experiences.