Waiau River, Canterbury

Waiau River, Canterbury

The more northerly of the South Island's two Waiau Rivers is in north Canterbury. The Waiau River rises in the Spenser Mountains and flows eastward to the Pacific Ocean. The Waiau River has the second largest catchment (3,310 square kilometres) of North Canterbury's rivers. [Robert Logan, "Waimakariri. The story of Canterbury's "river of cold rushing water". ISBN-0-473-00520-4, Robert Logan, Christchurch, 1987, page 6.]

The main tributaries of the Waiau River are the Lewis River, which rises at Lewis Pass where the main highway from Canterbury to the West Coast crosses the main divide, the Doubtful River, which rises at Amuri Pass, the Hope River, which rises at Hope Pass, and the Hanmer, Mason, and Leader Rivers.

The Waiau River crosses the southern edge of the Hanmer Plain and then flows through a gorge to emerge on to the northern part of the Culverden Plains then travels eastward past the town which shares its name. It cuts through two more gorges before reaching the Pacific Ocean 130 kilometres north of Christchurch. The gorges have been investigated as possible sites for hydro-electric dams. The Waiau River was formerly called the Dillon or Waiau-ua, and was a major barrier to communication north from Canterbury until the construction of a bridge below the Hanmer River junction in 1864.

There is a Maori legend associated with this river and the Clarence. According to the story the Waiau-uha (Waiau) and the Waiau-toa (Clarence) were respectively male and female spirit lovers living in the Spenser Mountains. For some reason they were transformed into rivers, the sources of which were not far apart. When warm rains melted the snows and caused floods, it was said that the parted lovers were lamenting and that the rivers were swollen with their tears.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Waiau River — ist der Name von drei Flüssen in Neuseeland: Waiau River (Gisborne) Waiau River (Hawke s Bay) Waiau River (Canterbury) Waiau River (Southland) Der Waiau ua River in Marlborough (Neuseeland) wird auch als Waiau River bezeichnet …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Waiau River — The Waiau River is the name of three different rivers in New Zealand, one in the North Island, and two in the South Island: *The Waiau River, Hawke s Bay *The Waiau River, Canterbury, once called the Waiau ua River and *The Waiau River, Southland …   Wikipedia

  • Waiau River — ▪ river, eastern South Island, New Zealand formerly  Waiau ua, or Dillon,         river in eastern South Island, New Zealand. It rises in the Spenser Mountains and flows south and east for 105 miles (169 km) to enter the Pacific Ocean, 6 miles… …   Universalium

  • Waiau (disambiguation) — Waiau could refer to several places in New Zealand: * Waiau, Canterbury * Waiau, Taranaki * Waiau, Coromandel, on the Coromandel Peninsula * Waiau, Auckland, south of Auckland * Waiau Bay * Waiau Branch, a Canterbury branch line railway in… …   Wikipedia

  • Waiau (cours d'eau, Canterbury) — 42° 46′ 40″ S 173° 22′ 19″ E / 42.77774, 173.37188 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Waiau — is a small town in north Canterbury, in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies 30 kilometres east of Hanmer Springs on the northern bank of the Waiau River, some 30 kilometres from the river s mouth.Waiau is the largest town on State Highway 70 …   Wikipedia

  • Waiau-toa — Vorlage:Infobox Fluss/DGWK fehltVorlage:Infobox Fluss/FLUSSSYSTEM fehltVorlage:Infobox Fluss/EINZUGSGEBIET fehltVorlage:Infobox Fluss/ABFLUSS fehltVorlage:Infobox Fluss/KARTE fehlt Clarence River …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Henry River — ist der Name von vier Flüssen in Australien und Ozeanien und einer Siedlung in den USA: in Australien: Henry River (New South Wales), ein Nebenfluss des Mann River (New South Wales) Henry River (Tasmanien) Henry River (Western Australia) in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Waiau Branch — The Waiau Branch was a branch line railway in the northern Canterbury region of New Zealand s South Island. Known as the Great Northern Railway for its first few decades of life, the Waiau Branch was seen as part of a main line north but was… …   Wikipedia

  • Clarence River (Neuseeland) — Clarence River Clarence River mit den Kaikoura RangeVorlage:Infobox Fluss/KARTE fehlt …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”