The Hokonui Hills, also known as ''The Hokonui Mountains'' or simply ''The Hokonui'', are a range of hills in central
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 r ...
. They rise to 600 metres above the surrounding
Southland Plains
The Southland Plains is a general name given to several areas of low-lying land in the South Island of New Zealand, separated by the rise of the Hokonui Hills in the north. It forms a sizeable area of Southland region and encompasses its two pr ...
, of which the hills mark a northern extremity.
The Hokonui forms part of the
Southland Syncline
The Southland Syncline is a major geological structure located in the Southland Region of New Zealand's South Island. The syncline folds the Mesozoic greywackes of the Murihiku Terrane. The northern limb of the fold is steep to overturned, while ...
, a geological
fold system which extends northwestward from the coast at
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 Southlan ...
. Owing to the
transform fault
A transform fault or transform boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal. It ends abruptly where it connects to another plate boundary, either another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subductio ...
which forms 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 ...
, the westernmost part of the syncline has been transported several hundred kilometres to the north; this western section includes many of the hills within the
Kahurangi National Park
Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging to near Golden Bay in the north. Much of what was t ...
in the northwest of the South Island.
The Hokonui Hills also splits the Southland Plains in two - to the north and east lies the broad
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
of 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 ...
, and to the south and west lie the plains of the
Aparima and
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 ...
s. The Ōreti's major tributary, the
Makarewa River
The Makarewa River is the largest tributary of the Ōreti River, and is in Southland, New Zealand. It flows for from its source in the Hokonui Hills, joining the Ōreti just north of Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the sout ...
, rises in the south of the Hokonui Hills.
The hills lie within a triangle formed by the towns of
Gore
Gore may refer to:
Places Australia
* Gore, Queensland
* Gore Creek (New South Wales)
* Gore Island (Queensland)
Canada
* Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community
* Gore, Quebec, a township municipality
* Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...
to the east,
Lumsden to the north, and
Winton to the southwest, and cover approximately 1,200 km².
Hokonui moonshine
During the nineteenth century, the region gained a reputation for the production of illicit
alcohol known as ''Hokonui
moonshine
Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...
''. The association between the region and illicit alcohol lasted until the 1930s and has passed into New Zealand folklore. The Hokonui Moonshiner Museum in Gore celebrates the "colourful history of illicit whiskey making and consumption".
"Illicit Whisky Still"
1934, Auckland Star
External links
Google Map
References
{{coord, -45.9502, 168.6237, type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title
Landforms of Southland, New Zealand
Mountain ranges of New Zealand
Gore District, New Zealand
Hills of New Zealand