Roaring Billy Falls
LocationMount Aspiring National Park, New Zealand
Coordinates43°55′59″S 169°17′40″E / 43.93306°S 169.29444°E / -43.93306; 169.29444
TypeCascade
Total height30 metres (98 ft)
WatercourseThe Roaring Billy

Roaring Billy Falls is a waterfall in Mount Aspiring National Park, Westland District, New Zealand. It is located in the Haast River valley, around 30 km (19 mi) inland from Haast, near Eighteen Mile Bluff on State Highway 6. The falls are a 30-metre-high (98 ft) cascade on The Roaring Billy stream.[1][2] The bottom of the cascade is at an elevation of around 80 metres (262 ft) where it flows into the Haast River.[3]

Viewing point and walkway

A viewing point is accessible via a one-kilometre-return (0.62 mi) walkway from the carpark on State Highway 6. The walkway is a gravel and boardwalk path that passes through silver beech and podocarp forest to the gravel bed of the Haast River where there is a view of the falls on the opposite side of the river. The forest understory along the walk has a dense growth of tree ferns.[4]

Vegetation

The path to the viewing point passes through forest on a fertile alluvial terrace with a wide diversity of rainforest plants.[5]

The canopy consists of silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii), southern rata (Metrosideros umbellata) and kāmahi (Weinmannia racemosa), and a wide range of podocarps including miro (Prumnopitys ferruginea), mataī (Prumnopitys taxifolia), kahikitea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides), rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) and Hall's tōtara (Podocarpus laetus). Beneath the canopy there is māhoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), patē (Schefflera digitata), mountain horopito (Pseudowintera colorata), wineberry (Aristotelia serrata), tree fuchsia (Fuchsia excorticata) and Coprosma rotundifolia.[5]

Tree ferns are abundant, mostly the soft tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) and wheki - the rough tree fern (Dicksonia squarrosa). There are also many smaller ferns including crown fern (Lomaria discolor), hound's tongue fern (Cynoglossum officinale), water fern (Ceratopteris thalictroides), prickly shield fern (Polystichum vestitum), drooping spleenwort (Asplenium flaccidum), creek fern (Cranfillia fluviatilis), comb fern (Schizaea fistulosa), crepe fern (Leptopteris hymenophylloides), Colenso's hard fern (or waterfall fern) (Austroblechnum colensoi) and common strap fern (Notogrammitis billardierei). Some filmy ferns are also present.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Place name detail: The Roaring Billy". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  2. ↑ "Roaring Billy Falls". waterfalls.co.nz. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "NZ Topo Map - Roaring Billy Falls".
  4. ↑ "Walks along Haast Highway - Mount Aspiring National Park walks" (PDF). Department of Conservation. November 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Kerry-Jayne Wilson (2017). West Coast Walking: A naturalist's guide (2nd ed.). Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-42-5. OL 29806566M. Wikidata Q98762244.
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