The Ahaura River is in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. This river drains the western flanks of the

Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern ...

and flows into the Grey River. The Ahaura and its many tributaries rise in the Lake Sumner State Forest park and enters the Grey River at the small settlement of Ahaura approximately 30 km upstream from Greymouth. It drains a huge area of land and in its lower reaches below the Haupiri confluence can have a tea-colour stain for much of the year. The reaches above the junction with the Haupiri tend to have very clear water however for much of the year. Other rivers in the catchment are the Nancy,

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

, Tutaekuri and

Waiheke Waiheke Island (; Māori language, Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. I ...

Rivers. They can all be

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

ed, except in late summer and they are the most used rivers on the West Coast. The lower gorge has remnants of Chinese miners' gold diggings. Pack-tracks to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

used to go through Amuri Pass into the Doubtful River Valley and by the Tūtaekurī to the Hope River. The Ahaura in the gorge is a wide, fast, shallow,

braided Braided is a musical group consisting of Casey LeBlanc, Ashley Leitão, and Amber Fleury, who all competed on the third season of '' Canadian Idol'' in 2005. They are the third music group to come from an Idol show in the world, after Young Div ...

river, with extensive grassy flats, surrounded by beech forest. Earthquake Rapid, is the largest rapid on the river. A 1981 survey described the scenic and recreational values of the gorge as exceptional. The river is only bridged by the

Stillwater–Ngākawau Line The Stillwater Ngākawau Line (SNL), formerly the Stillwater–Westport Line (SWL) and the Seddonville Branch, Ngakawau Branch, is a secondary main line, part of New Zealand's Rail transport in New Zealand, national rail network. It runs betwe ...

and SH7. A punt operated across the river from 1871 to 1879, when it was replaced by a bridge. The first railway bridge opened in 1890. At the gorge the Ahaura's 7-day mean annual low flow is per second, the mean flow and the maximum recorded flow . On 26 December 1957 the flood gauge at the SH7 bridge reached . The river's catchment is . Gold digging started about 1865 and a small settlement of shanties had been built at Ahauru by January 1866. 3,300 were reported to be at work in the area by March 1866 and a

bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...

had been formed. The Ahaura Terraces and Nancys Clearing Ecological Areas were declared in 1997 to protect

kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m and a life span of 600 years. It was firs ...

and

red beech Red beech is a common name applied to several species of trees: *'' Dillenia alata'', native to Northern Australia and New Guinea *'' Fuscospora fusca'', native to New Zealand *''Protorhus longifolia ''Protorhus longifolia'', the red beech, is ...

(tawhai raunui) forests on the river's terraces, including

kākāriki The three species of kākāriki (also spelled ''kakariki'', without the macrons), or New Zealand parakeets, are the most common species of parakeets in the genus ''Cyanoramphus'', family Psittacidae. The birds' Māori name, which is the most comm ...

parakeets.

References

Grey District Rivers of the West Coast, New Zealand Rivers of New Zealand {{WestCoastNZ-river-stub

See also

References