Kawarau River

Kawarau River
Kawarau River with Roaring Meg hydro station
Location
Country	New Zealand
Region	Otago
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Lake Wakatipu
Mouth
• location	Lake Dunstan
Length	60 km (37 mi)

TheKawarau Riveris a river in theSouth Islandof New Zealand. It drainsLake Wakatipuin northwesternOtagovia the lake'sFrankton Arm.The river flows generally eastwards for about 60 kilometres (37 mi) and passes through the steepKawarau Gorgeuntil it joinsLake DunstannearCromwell.Before the construction of the Clyde High Dam, the Kawarau joined theClutha River / Mata-Auin a spectacular confluence at Cromwell. TheShotover Riverenters the Kawarau from the north; theNevis Riverenters it from the south. With many rapids and strong currents, the river can be dangerous and has claimed many lives. It is popular forbungy jumpingandkayaking.

A natural bridge,Whatatorere,where the river narrows to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft), was important first to earlyMāoriand then to goldminers as the only place the Mata-Au and the Kawarau could be crossed without boats. Māori were heading for theCardrona Valleyto reachWānaka,and on to theHaast Passto seekpounamu.The miners were seeking gold in the Arrow Goldfields.

Now the main road toQueenstown,State Highway 6,runs through the Kawarau Gorge.

Name

Kawarau is aMāoriname meaning"channel between rocks or shoals".It shares its name with themountain range at its source.

It is pronounced ka wa ro,and has its etymological roots in the Waitaha orsouthern dialect of Māori.It should not be confused with theBay of Plentytown ofKawerau.

The falls where the river leaves Whakatipu Waimāori are called Ōterotu.

History

ForNgāi Tahu,the river was the main travel route from theMata-Auto Lake Wakatipu.A key feature was the narrow gorge atWhatatorereorPōtiki-whata-rumaki-nao,the only place where the Kawarau and Mata-Au rivers could be leapt over. It connected to a route over theCrown Rangeand on to theCardrona Valleythat led to the West Coast.

In the 19th century, alluvialgoldwas extracted from the river. The Goldfields Mining Centre, downstream of the gorge, features a working exhibition of 19th centurygold mining techniques.Some of the miners' huts remain today, many of them close to thrivingvineyards.

In 1924 a company was formed to drain the river by blocking off Lake Wakatipu, with the intent of then collecting gold from the river bed. Ten massive gates were completed in 1927 and although the river level dropped it was not laid bare as planned. The gates formed part of State Highway 6 until December 2017, when a larger $22 million replacement bridge was completed.

Water Conservation Order

Awater conservationorder was set up in March 1997, seven years after the minister of conservation first applied for an agreement to prevent hydroelectric dams from being built in the Kawarau river or its tributaries.

The Order covers the stretch of river from the Lake Wakatipu control gates to Scrubby Stream.Fish and Gamehas sought an amendment to the Water Conservation Order to prevent any damming of theNevis Riverand to seek conditions on changes to the minimum flows.

Adventure tourism

The first European to visit the area wasNathanael Chalmers,who was guided inland by ChiefsRekoand Kaikōura in 1853.Reko and Kaikōura showed Chalmers the rock bridgeWhatatorereatRoaring Meg,which was the only place that the Kawarau River could be crossed,and returned him down the river on amōkihi,a flax reed open kayak.[1]In 1910, 57 years after the event, Nathanael Chalmers remembered his boat trip through the Cromwell Gorge: ‘I shall never forget the “race” through the gorge... my heart was literally in my mouth, but those two old men seemed to care nothing for the current.’

Kawarau Bridge Bungy, the world's first commercialbungysite.(A. J. HackettBungy Centreon the right)

More recent tourist adventure activities on the river includeriverboarding,jet boating, white water rafting,river surfing,andbungy jumping.TheKawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge,43 metres (141 ft) above the river, and a Category I historic place,is the site of theworld's first commercial bungy jumping operation.Eastburn Station gave up the 1.2 square kilometres (300 acres) plus that forms the natural backdrop as a reserve.

The Kawarau is the largest volume river commerciallyraftedin New Zealand, with an average flow of 216 cubic metres per second (7,600 cu ft/s) at Chards Road measuring station.The four significant commercially used rapids on the river are Smiths Falls, Twin Bridges, Do Little Do Nothing and the 400-metre (1,300 ft) Chinese Dog Leg. Below these are the dangerous Nevis Bluff, Citroen, Retrospect, and Roaring Meg sections. Because of the danger Waitiri Station usually declines access.

In popular culture

The Kawarau featured as a setting for theArgonathin the 2001 motion picture,The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

The Kawarau appeared on the finale of the Israeli reality showHaMerotz LaMillion 1.

Frederick John Cato of the firmMoran & Cato,was a teacher from Invercargill, New Zealand, where he met and married Frances Bethune.Kawarauwas the name they gave their expansive home in Hawthorn East,Victoria.

Bridges

Bridges that pass over the Kawarau River are:

• Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge
• Kawarau River Bridge
• Kawarau River (Victoria) Bridge
• Kawarau Falls Bridge
• Bridge at the Goldfields Mining Centre

Until it was destroyed in the 19th century, the natural rock bridge "Whatatorere" at Roaring Meg was the only place that the Kawarau River orClutha Rivercould be crossed without boats.

See also

• List of rivers of New Zealand