Talk:Wainui Falls

Sources (for self reference or for others)

 * GB weekly some interesting stuff from old timers about how the track used to be and how they view the renovations. Follow up: expanded article with this source, not much more to add.
 * and Two? photographic prints of the falls from the lat 1800s/early 1900s. I live in Wellington so I can track these down at the national Library and get a scanned copy.Follow up: found some scans... added to the article gallery
 * another collection in the Nat library that contains a photo of Wainui falls circa 1957 ( I will endeavor to get a copy if possible). Follow up: not free
 * Colour transparency: House at wainui falls circa 1973. Also in the Nat Library Follow up: not free
 * as early as 1916, the falls were recognised as a sightseeing destination that "attracted loads of sightseers and pleasure seekers". Follow up: added
 * Publication about a critically endangered fungus known only from the shells of Powelliphanta snails. The type organism of Harorepupu aotearoa (also known as 'Trichocomaceae gen. nov.') is from the Wainui falls track (from an empty Powelliphanta shell). Could be a good sentence or two as part of a 'Conservation' section. Follow up: not relevant enough for inclusion.
 * Speaking a Silence by Christine Hunt contains a story about a doctor visiting and saving the life of a woman and her newborn where she and her family had been living in a cave "up the Wainui Falls" Follow up: I got this out of the library, and I'll work in this short story if I can. Follow up#2: not appropriate for inclusion
 * "Walks to Waterfalls: 100 New Zealand Waterfalls" by Russell Kirkpatrick should contain Wainui Falls. Follow up: I found it in the Wellington central library; it does contain Wainui Falls but it is a short listing that does not give a height for the waterfall. About the only citable thing that he says is: "The plunge pool is popular with swimmers in the summer, who refresh themselves after thier 20-minute diversion." so we can cite it as being a good swimming spot (which I can also personally testify to).
 * "A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls" by Johnny T. Cheng (the same guy who maintains world-of-waterfalls.com (which is used in the article). The book does not contain Wainui Falls based on the table of contents that can be viewed HERE.
 * a digital photo tour of the entire walk though 15 photos. Follow up: added as a ref and also as an external link. I have also contacted the creator of the site to ask him if he would be willing to publish his images on that site under a free licence so that they can be uploaded to commons. No response as of yet.

—  Insertcleverphrasehere (or here)  02:26, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

Height of the falls
Most sources cite the falls as being 20m high, but waterfalls.co.nz, an otherwise reliable source only says 7m. I also just found this source, which also quotes 7m. This could be due to a discrepancy in the way that the height is measured, and this 7m may only represent the largest single freefall (the Wainui Falls have several distinct steps if you look carefully). I suspect that the real height, given this video with a guy at the bottom for scale, is certainly more than 7m to the top of the visible rapids, though the real height might be a bit less than 20. The 7m might be from the pool up to the first major ledge. Johnny T. Cheng talks about the uncretainty regarding the height (even says he has heard 30m!) but he eventually estimates about 20 based on the video before (which he took and uploaded to youtube). —  Insertcleverphrasehere (or here)  02:26, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Based on this plausible rationale, and the highest quality source being the 20m one (with critical analysis) I am going to add the 'height_longest' parameter to the infobox and set it to 7m cited to the sources that say 7m. working it out from the video, it does appear that the free-fall height from the big ledge to the rocks just above the pool is about 7m. —  Insertcleverphrasehere (or here)  03:18, 9 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Removed due to OR concerns. Also, I notice that other horsetail waterfalls on waterfalls NZ list thier hight as the total height rather than the longest drop, so I was probably wrong in this assessment. Height cited at 20 m per superior source by Chang with critical analysis. I have also contacted waterfalls.co.nz to let them know of the seeming inaccuracy. —  Insertcleverphrasehere (or here)  20:28, 30 January 2018 (UTC)


 * I got a response from waterfalls.co.nz, saying that they got the 7 m figure from a DOC sign or a topo map (can't remember which) and they also think it is only the longest drop without upstream and downstream cascades. They have updated their listing to 20 m to include the cascades. —  Insertcleverphrasehere (or here)  04:12, 1 February 2018 (UTC)