Arapuni
Arapuni is a rural town centre on the Waikato river in the South Waikato District of New Zealand. The population on census night 2006 was 2,145 usual residents, slightly down from 2,163 in 2001 and 2,211 in 1996.
The town sits next to the Arapuni Dam, a hydroelectric dam at Lake Arapuni commissioned in 1929. The Arapuni Power Station consists of eight turbines which give a total output of 196 MW, the largest of the power stations on the Waikato river. The Arapuni hydro station is owned and operated by Mercury Energy.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "blocked path" for Arapuni.
The Arapuni Suspension Bridge below the dam is freely open to public.
The name Arapuni derives from Ara, meaning path and puni, meaning blocked or covered, and translates as blocked or covered path.
The local Pōhara Marae is a meeting ground of the Ngāti Raukawa hapū of Ngāti Korokī and Ngāti Mahuta. It features the Rangiātea meeting house.
