The South Waikato's Te Waihou Walkway and Blue Spring has been awarded a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.
TripAdvisor is the world's largest travel site for planning and booking trips. A feature of their service is user experience feedback. Travellers can rate attractions, accommodation, experiences on TripAdvisor on a 1 to 5 star rating scale.
"Everything and anything can be rated from delicious ice creams from a parlour in France to awesome accommodation at a motel in Brazil," said Council's Communications Manager Kerry Fabrie. "Every year TripAdvisor assess these ratings and issues Certificates of Excellence to those businesses or attractions that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews."
And our very own Te Waihou Walkway is a 2015 recipient.
Council's Chief Executive Craig Hobbs is proud of the achievement.
"We have always known that Te Waihou is a fantastic attraction," he said. "I am particularly proud of our parks team who are exceptionally dedicated to making Te Waihou the experience it is today.
"Considerable credit also goes to the many volunteers who work countless hours on the walkway; we should all be proud."
TripAdvisor is a collection of user experiences who rate their experiences around the world. A collection of comments include:
- Samantha from Singapore: "Calm and quiet walk...the Blue Spring the most beautiful waters we've ever seen. The water was impossibly blue, the sea grass impossibly green, the clarity of the water impossibly crystal, and it just made the whole walk work it. Parking at the Leslie Road carpark meant we only had to take a short walk, which was good enough for us to stretch our legs mid-drive to Lake Taupo."
- Jenni from Tauranga, NZ: Just amazing a trip to the blue spring is a must as the water is so clear you have to see it to believe it. Take an inner tube and tube your way downstream or swim if you are brave enough. The water is really cold but great to drink. Well worth a visit."
- GouravNZ from Auckland, NZ An amazing, serene and fairy tale destination free well to cut long story short, if you are passing by Putaruru and have extra four to five hours then you cannot miss this walkway :). Park your car at Whites road layby and enjoy this beautiful, serene and picturesque two hour walk to the Blue Spring. You will be amazed to see the clarity of water."
- Rehlaci from Greece: An absolute must so blue and so relaxing. Just amazing! The water is very cold but you can get in if you are brave. We took a one hour walk but it was enough to fall in love with the river and the surroundings."
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Caption: Council's Parks and Property Manager Greg Shaw (back right) with Parks staff from left Lawrence Warrington, Phil Parker, Maree Taimetua and Joe Taimetua at the award winning walkway they spend countless hours working on.
