The Waipunga River is a tributary of the Mohaka River

Mohaka River

The Mohaka River is a river in the northern Hawke's Bay region of the eastern North Island of New Zealand. It flows east-southeast for 70 kilometres from the Ahimanawa Range, before flowing into Hawke Bay close to the settlement of Mohaka, 20 kilometres southwest of Wairoa.New Zealand's highest...

, located between Taupo

Taupo

Taupo is a town on the shore of Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupo District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region....

 and Napier

Napier, New Zealand

Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about About 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighboring cities are often called "The Twin Cities" or "The Bay Cities"...

 in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

. It runs roughly 50 km from its source near the eastern edge of the Volcanic Plateau

North Island Volcanic Plateau

The North Island Volcanic Plateau is a volcanic plateau covering much of central North Island of New Zealand with volcanoes, lava plateaus, and crater lakes....

 to its junction with the Mohaka, of which some 15 km follow alongside the Napier-Taupo highway (State Highway 5). It is perhaps most notable for the scenic Waipunga Falls, visible from a rest stop along the highway.