Inangahua River, West Coast, New Zealand, 1976

The Inangahua River is located in the northwest of

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 ...

’s

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 ...

. It is a major tributary of the

Buller River The Buller River ( mi, Kawatiri) is a river in the South Island of New Zealand. One of the country's longest rivers, it flows for from Lake Rotoiti through the Buller Gorge and into the Tasman Sea near the town of Westport. Within the Bulle ...

, which it joins at the town of

Inangahua Junction Inangahua is a small settlement in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It consists of three settled areas: Inangahua Junction at the confluence of the Inangahua and Buller Rivers, north of Reefton and southeast of Westport; Inagahua L ...

. The Inangahua River begins near the Rahu Saddle and flows northwest for , followed by State Highway 7, to the town of

Reefton Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 ...

. The

Reefton Power Station Reefton Power Station supplied electricity to the very prosperous gold mining town of Reefton in New Zealand and was the first power station to supply municipal electricity in the Southern Hemisphere.New Zealand Historical Atlas'' – McKin ...

, now decommissioned, operated with water taken from the river from 1888 to 1949. At Reefton it turns north and continues for , passing

Cronadun Cronadun is a small village located in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated on the east bank of the Inangahua River, near its junction with Boatmans Creek. SH 69 and the Stillwater–Westport Line railway pass ...

, before reaching the Buller some from the larger river's outflow into the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

near Westport. The Inangahua's tributaries include the Waitahu River, Te Wharau River and

Awarau River The Awarau River, usually known as Larry's Creek is located within the South Island of New Zealand. The river is about long and runs northwest from its headwaters in the Victoria Range to its confluence with the Inangahua River north of Reef ...

The name ''Inangahua'' is from the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

; ''inanga'' means

whitebait Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along coasts, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught using fine-m ...

, small edible fish of ''

Galaxias ''Galaxias'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Galaxiidae, and are frequently referred to as the galaxiids. These highly adaptable fish are typically found at temperate latitudes across the Southern Hemisphere. ...

'' spp., and ''hua'' may mean the drying and preserving of them in sealed containers or may mean plenty of. The river was known for big catches of whitebait. Prior to 1866

settlers A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

sometimes used the name Thackeray River, rather than Inangahua.

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

was a close friend of

Charles Buller Charles Buller (6 August 1806 – 29 November 1848) was a British barrister, politician and reformer. Background and education Born in Calcutta, British India, Buller was the son of Charles Buller (1774–1848), a member of a well-known Corn ...

, after whom the Buller River was named.

References

External links

nzfishing.com
- fishing information for the river Buller District Rivers of the West Coast, New Zealand Rivers of New Zealand {{WestCoastNZ-river-stub