Buller

Maruia Falls is near Murchison in the Buller Region. "Murchison, the centre of the northern half of the South Island"!!

Height: 10m (36 feet)

First Descent: 1985 by Mick Hopkinson.

These falls were created by a (large!) earthquake in 1929 which redirected the river over the edge of one of its old channels. Initially there was no waterfall as the old channel was silted up but gradually the river has been hollowing out the old channel bingo a waterfall. Descents are now quite common and there has to my knowledge been only one serious injury and no deaths.