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Waikawa, Southland
Waikawa is a small settlement at the mouth of the Waikawa River in Southland, New Zealand, at the southwestern edge of The Catlins. The township is now a small fishing settlement, but at one time in the late 19th century was a major port, shipping timber from the sawmills of the Catlins north to help build the new town of Dunedin. Originally a small Maori community, the first European settlers to the area set up sawmills in the late 1830s. Unfortunately for Waikawa, the port facilities were prone to silting, and the nearby township of Fortrose became the more prominent port. It too fell prey to the arrival of the Tokanui Branch railway, and to a lesser extent the Catlins River Branch, in the late 1890s. Today Waikawa hosts a museum, community centre, a popular fish and chip wagon and numerous accommodations and holiday homes because of its close proximity to Curio Bay and Porpoise Bay. Parts of Catlins Conservation Park are located nearby. ThWaikawa Museum and Informati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waikawa River
The Waikawa River flows east then south through the Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. Its total length is , and it flows into the Pacific Ocean at Waikawa. Close to its mouth, it cascades over a small series of cataracts, ironically named Niagara Falls. The river's source is east of Fortrose. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ... gives a translation of "bitter water" for . References Rivers of Southland, New Zealand Rivers of New Zealand {{Southland-river-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southland, New Zealand
Southland ( mi, Murihiku) is New Zealand's southernmost region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. It includes Southland District, Gore District and the city of Invercargill. The region covers over 3.1 million hectares and spans over 3,400 km of coast. History The earliest inhabitants of Murihiku (meaning "the last joint of the tail") were Māori of the Waitaha iwi, followed later by Kāti Māmoe and Kāi Tahu. Waitaha sailed on the Uruao waka, whose captain Rakaihautū named sites and carved out lakes throughout the area. The Takitimu Mountains were formed by the overturned Kāi Tahu waka Tākitimu. Descendants created networks of customary food gathering sites, travelling seasonally as needed, to support permanent and semi-permanent settlements in coastal and inland regions. In later years, the coastline was a scene of early extended contact between Māori and Europeans, in this case sealers, whalers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Catlins
The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions. It includes the South Island's southernmost point, Slope Point. A rugged, sparsely populated area, the Catlins features a scenic coastal landscape and dense temperate rainforest, both of which harbour many endangered species of birds, most notably the rare yellow-eyed penguin. The coast attracts numerous marine mammals, among them New Zealand fur seals and Hooker's sea lions. In general terms the area enjoys a maritime temperate climate. Its exposed location leads to its frequently wild weather and heavy ocean swells, which are an attraction to big-wave surfers, and have also caused numerous shipwrecks. People have lived in the area since around 1350 AD. Prior to European settlement, the region was sparsely inhabited by nomadi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Scottish, Chinese and Māori heritage. With an estimated population of as of , Dunedin is both New Zealand's seventh-most populous metro and urban area. For historic, cultural and geographic reasons the city has long been considered one of New Zealand's four main centres. The urban area of Dunedin lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, surrounding the head of Otago Harbour, and the harbour and hills around Dunedin are the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city suburbs extend out into the surrounding valleys and hills, onto the isthmus of the Otago Peninsula, and along the shores of the Otago Harbour and the Pacific Ocean. Archaeological evidence points to lengthy occupation of the area by Māori prior to the ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori People
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori. Initial contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted for a generation. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s, and massive land confiscations, to which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortrose, New Zealand
Fortrose is a locality on the southernmost coast of the South Island of New Zealand in the Southland region. It is situated on Toetoes Bay at the mouth of the Mataura River, and is on the far western edge of the Catlins. Nearby settlements include Otara to the southeast, Pukewao and Tokanui to the northeast, and Titiroa and Waimahaka to the north. History From 1834 to 1836, whalers lived at a station in the Fortrose area, and the first surveys for a town - slightly to the west of Fortrose's present location - gave it the name of Russelltown. In the mid-19th century, Fortrose acquired its current name, a tribute to Fortrose in Scotland, from a Scottish drover. Its location at the Mataura's mouth meant it developed as a port to service the local region, and in 1875, a long jetty was built. However, Fortrose's economy declined after the Tokanui Branch railway was opened to Waimahaka in 1899 and then Tokanui in 1911, as the railway provided much quicker transportation f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokanui Branch
The Tokanui Branch, also known as the Seaward Bush Branch, was a branch line railway located in Southland, New Zealand. It diverged from the Bluff Branch south of the main railway station in Invercargill and ran for 54 kilometres in a southeasterly direction. Construction began in 1883 and it operated until 1966. Construction The line was built to access timber resources south-east of Invercargill and to open up the region to farming development, replacing an earlier bush tramway that had run in the area in the 1870s. Governments of the Southland Province and Otago Province had rejected a railway line due to lack of finances and an 1880 Royal Commission did not view the line as advisable. By 1882 the Provinces of New Zealand had been abolished and the railways centrally controlled by the New Zealand Railways Department, and despite the Long Depression, funds for construction were made available. Work commenced in March 1883 and the first section opened by 2 July 1886 to Wai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catlins River Branch
The Catlins River Branch was a branch line railway that formed part of New Zealand's Rail transport in New Zealand, national rail network. It ran through the Catlins region in southwestern Otago and was built in sections between 1879 and 1915. It closed in 1971 except for the first four kilometres, which remain open as the Finegand Branch (formerly named the 'Finegand Industrial Siding'). Along the line was the Hunts Road tunnel, the southernmost tunnel in New Zealand. Construction The line was built mainly to provide access to timber for logging companies, as access to the thickly wooded Catlins region was very difficult at the time. The first contract for construction was let on 29 April 1879, but it was not until 15 December 1885 that the first 12.79 km to Romahapa from the junction with the Main South Line in Balclutha, New Zealand, Balclutha were opened. The next stage to Glenomaru added approximately ten more kilometres to the line and opened on 7 July 1891. The o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curio Bay
Curio Bay is a coastal embayment in the Southland District of New Zealand, best known as the site of a petrified forest some 180 million years old. It also hosts a yellow-eyed penguin colony, arguably the rarest of penguin species, with approximately 1600 breeding pairs in the extant population. The bay, along with neighbouring Porpoise Bay, is home to the endemic Hector's dolphin. Southern right whales are occasionally observed offshore, as on numerous parts of the country's coast. Located near the southernmost point of the South Island, Curio Bay is one of the major attractions in the Catlins, attracting around 100,000 visitors per year. The town of Waikawa has an information center for tourists. The now petrified logs, from ancient conifers closely related to modern kauri and Norfolk pine, were buried by ancient volcanic mud flows and gradually replaced by silica to produce the fossils now exposed by the sea. The fossilised forest grew at a time of semi-tropical clima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porpoise Bay, New Zealand
Porpoise Bay is in the Catlins, on the southern coast of New Zealand's South Island. The bay sweeps gently from North Head, at the entrance to Waikawa Harbour, around to South Head. A campground overlooking the bay is situated on South Head, which separates Porpoise Bay from Curio Bay. A small population of endangered Hector's dolphins can often be found in the bay feeding, resting and socializing during the summer. Commercial dolphin watching tours no longer operate in Porpoise Bay, however the dolphins can often be seen from the beach. In order to limit disturbance to the dolphins, it is recommended that swimmers enter the water at least 50 m away from dolphins, do not attempt to feed or attract them, and let any interaction be on their terms. A 5 kt speed limit applies to boats, and jetskis are not allowed in Porpoise Bay. In 2007, the Department of Conservation proposed including the bay in a group of new sanctuaries designed to protect marine mammals, some calling for a comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
