![awarua nasa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Awarua_nasa.JPG)
The Awarua Plain is a large area of wetland to the east of
Bluff, New Zealand. Covering an area of around 600 km², the plain stretches for 35 kilometres along the coast of
Foveaux Strait
The Foveaux Strait, (, or , ) separates Stewart Island, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. The strait is about 130 km long (from Ruapuke Island to Little Solander Island), and it widens (from 14 km at Ruapuke ...
. This stretch of coast includes the peninsula of
Tiwai Point
Tiwai Point lies at the entrance to Bluff Harbour on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. A spit which extends from the western end of the Awarua Plain, it lies between Awarua Bay to the north and Foveaux Strait to the sout ...
, Awarua Bay, the
Waituna Lagoon, and
Toetoes Bay
Toetoes Bay is the easternmost of three large bays lying on the Foveaux Strait coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Te Waewae Bay and Oreti Beach. The 240 km Mataura River drains to sea at Toetoes Bay, first passing through the ...
. The
Mataura River
The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is long.
Description
The river's headwaters are located in the Eyre Mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, whe ...
is the major river responsible for the presence of the Awarua Plain; along with the
Ōreti River
The Ōreti River (formerly the Oreti River) is one of the main rivers of Southland, New Zealand, and is long. The river has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because, for much of its length, it supports bree ...
, it is a remnant of the rivers from the Ice Ages that formed the Southland Plains (Murihiku). In addition, several small streams enter Foveaux Strait along this stretch of coast, mainly via Awarua Bay and Waituna Lagoon.
The New Zealand
Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "two streams" for ''Awarua''.
Demographics
The Awarua Plains statistical area covers
within
Southland District
Southland District is a territorial authority district in New Zealand that covers the south of the South Island as well as Stewart Island/Rakiura.
History
Southland District was formed through the 1989 local government reforms. Four local author ...
. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Awarua Plains had a population of 1,020 at the
2018 New Zealand census
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, a decrease of 6 people (−0.6%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 57 people (5.9%) since the
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 360 households. There were 531 males and 489 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.09 males per female. The median age was 32.3 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 267 people (26.2%) aged under 15 years, 195 (19.1%) aged 15 to 29, 471 (46.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 87 (8.5%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 81.5% European/Pākehā, 13.2% Māori, 1.8% Pacific peoples, 11.8% Asian, and 3.2% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
The proportion of people born overseas was 17.1%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 51.2% had no religion, 39.7% were Christian, 0.6% were Hindu, 0.9% were Muslim, 0.6% were Buddhist and 1.5% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 117 (15.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 150 (19.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $40,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 120 people (15.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 462 (61.4%) people were employed full-time, 150 (19.9%) were part-time, and 15 (2.0%) were unemployed.
Radio facilities
The Awarua Plain is suitable for
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
facilities, due to low distant
skyline
A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land.
City skyline ...
s, high ground conductivity and distance from sources of
radio interference
Electromagnetic interference (EMI), also called radio-frequency interference (RFI) when in the radio frequency spectrum, is a disturbance generated by an external source that affects an electrical circuit by electromagnetic induction, electrost ...
.
Unwin Radar
'' on Venture Southland website, retrieved 2011-04-12 An expedition seeking 'an extensive area of flat lands
roducingthe best results' first scouted the area for radio purposes in 1911.
['']The Otago Daily Times
The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a co ...
'', 1911-04-03, republished in
Tea party in the Antarctic
on ''Otago Daily Times'' website, 2011-04-03
Radio-related facilities here are:
*
Unwin Radar of
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...
*
Awarua Tracking Station of the
European Space Agency
Awarua Radio
Awarua Radio (
callsign VLB or ZLB) was New Zealand's main receiving and transmitting
coast radio station
A coast (or coastal) radio station (short: coast station) is an on-shore maritime radio station which may monitor radio distress frequencies and relays ship-to-ship and ship-to-land communications.
A coast station (also: '' coast radio station ...
providing worldwide
radiotelegraph
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for t ...
and
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...
communications with ships at sea. Some facilities were built by
Telefunken
Telefunken was a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ('General electricity company').
The name "Telefunken" ap ...
of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It was operated from 18 December 1913 by the
New Zealand Post Office
The New Zealand Post Office (NZPO) was a government department of New Zealand until 1987. It was previously (from 1881 to 1959) named the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department (NZ P&T).
As a government department, the New Zealand Post Office ...
(to 31 March 1986) then by NZPO successor corporation
Telecom New Zealand
Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications company providing fixed-line telephone services, a mobile phone network, internet access services, and (through its Spark Digital division) ICT services to businesses. It was know ...
until the station closed on 30 August 1991.
Awarua Radio VLB - ZLB
/ref>
The site was selected following an expedition in 1911 led by Mr J Orchiston, head of the New Zealand Telegraph Department, Captain Gard'ner of the New Zealand Artillery
The Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery is the artillery regiment of the New Zealand Army. It is effectively a military administrative corps, and can comprise multiple component regiments. This nomenclature stems from its heritage as an off ...
and representatives of Australian Wireless, seeking 'an extensive area of flat lands roducingthe best results'.
References
{{Coord, -46.5281, 168.4816, region:NZ-STL_type:landmark, display=title
Wetlands of Southland, New Zealand
Radio in New Zealand
Plains of New Zealand
Foveaux Strait
Invercargill