FE
FERRY TO HIDDEN
VALLEY T
BY KEITH INGRAM
he ferry service to Hidden Valley is probably one of our best-kept secrets. Craig and Pip Gibson own and operate the little ferry service that gives access to the Orakei Korako thermal park located between Taupo and Rotorua
near Reporoa. Situated on the Waikato River at Lake Ohakuri, which is part
of the Waikato River hydro-electric power system, the Hidden Valley is a popular tourist attraction. Back in the early 1800s, this part of the Waikato Valley was first occupied by Maori of the Ngati Tahu, a sub-tribe of Tuwharetoa, who were attracted to the area by the hot springs. An historic diary entry for March 11, 1850 recorded that Maori lived in this spot "to spare their woman the trouble of gathering wood for fuel. They seldom lit a fire; everything was cooked in the springs."
The exact date when the Ngati Tahu people vacated Orakei Korako to settle elsewhere is not recorded, but it is likely they left soon after the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886.
20 Professional Skipper January/February 2012
The name Orakei Korako can be interpreted as "place of adorning". "O" is the place of "rakei" adornment, where Maori women used the pool to bathe and beautify themselves for ceremonies.
The earliest known route from Rotorua to Taupo for early European travellers passed right through Orakei Korako, and by the early 1900s the geothermal area was once again becoming established as a visitor attraction.
Local Maori provided a dugout canoe for the river crossings which was used until the 1930s to transfer visitors across the then-swift Waikato River. Afterwards, a wire strop and pulley system was placed across the river to make the crossing easier.
In 1961 the hydro dam was completed and the lake formed, making for slower, deeper waters and a wider crossing. Orakei Korako was officially opened on December 15, 1937 with the silica terraces that form the base of the Geyserland and thermal park, believed to be the largest of its kind since the
The conning or driver's position
