Mataura Island is a farming community in

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 ...

. It is located close to the east bank of the lower reaches of the Mataura River. Despite its name, it is no longer an island. Mataura Island is located some east of the region's main city of

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

, and south of the town of Edendale, on the

Awarua Plains 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. This stretch of coast includes the peninsula of T ...

and close to the western edge of The Catlins. At the time of first settlement in the mid 19th century, the Mataura River flowed to the east of the locality. Early settler Thomas Ayson extended a creek which ran to the west into an irrigation channel linking with the Mataura at both ends. Flooding in 1878 resulted in the Mataura River diverting down the channel and scouring a new bed, and the locality became a genuine island, with parts of the river flowing on either side of it. The old course of the river has now been blocked by stopbanks at the northern (upstream) end. Today, Mataura Island is a small, dairy and sheep farming community. Until the 1990s, it was the site of a school (Mataura Island School), which had operated since 1890, and a Presbyterian church, which was established in 1900. Both of these are now gone, as is the former cheese and dairy factory, which operated from the 1890s until the 1970s.

References

Populated places in Southland, New Zealand Former islands {{SouthlandNZ-geo-stub