Overview

Hype:

Tourists have been enjoying the mighty Aratiatia Rapids from as early as 1877. Back then, the local people from the settlement of Opunga would take visitors on canoe rides across the river to view the rapids. More recently, Aratiatia shot to fame in The Hobbit movie: The Desolation of Smaug (2013). The famous scene of the dwarfs escaping by jumping into wooden barrels down a raging river was shot right here. The film company dropped 20-25 empty barrels into the water each time there was a release from the dam. After filming for two days, the shots were taken to Weta Studios in Wellington where the actors were magically inserted into the barrels - using special effects. People's safety was a key consideration during filming and no one even got wet!

Time:

Fees: None

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

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Location

Closest City or Region: Rotokawa, New Zealand

Coordinates: -38.617557, 176.138829

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November 15, 2022 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Savannah Dye,

Story

We stopped at the Aratiatia rapids, which is a spillway from a reservoir. They open it every couple of hours and you can see a huge gush of water flow down the canyon. We got there after the spillway was already open, but we stuck around for a few minutes until they closed it so we could still see the before and after comparison. The rapids were used for filming the barrels floating down the river in the Hobbit movie.

Pictures