State Highway 61 (SH 61) is a former New Zealand state highway in the

Tasman Region Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council, a ...

of 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 ...

. It links the coastal town of

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding dis ...

with SH 6, the main route to the South Island's

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. Along with several other state highways, its status was revoked at the beginning of the 1990s. The route is now usually referred to as the Motueka Valley Highway.

Route description

SH 61 provided (and still provides, without its former status) a short-cut route for vehicles travelling between the

Golden Bay Golden Bay may refer to: * Golden Bay / Mohua, a bay at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island * Golden Bay (Malta), a bay and beach on the coastline of Malta * Golden Bay High School, a high school in Takaka, New Zealand * Golden Bay, Wes ...

and western

Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches along ...

areas and the town of

Westport, New Zealand Westport ( mi, Kawatiri) is a town in the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand. Established in 1861, it is the oldest European settlement on the West Coast. Originally named Buller, it is on the right bank and at the mouth of the ...

and other parts of the West Coast and Buller. The former SH 61 largely follows the valley of the

Motueka River The Motueka River is located in the north of the South Island of New Zealand and is a popular tourist destination for watersports and fishing. The Motueka flows from the mountains 40 km west of the city of Nelson in the southeast of the ca ...

. Starting just to the south of central Motueka, the route is initially due west along College Street, passing along the southern edge of

Motueka Aerodrome Motueka Aerodrome is the airport serving Motueka, New Zealand, and is owned and managed by Tasman District Council. The current runway is 729 metres long and 11 metres wide with an asphalt surface. This is an adequate length to operate Piper ...

. After about three kilometres, the highway reaches the Motueka River, and turns upstream, to the southwest. It passes through the small settlements of Ngātīmoti and

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, winding through a steep-sided valley before briefly leaving the river's edge. It rejoins the river after a further 5 km after passing through the small settlement of Stanley Brook. Shortly after rejoining the river, it passes through the township of

Tapawera Tapawera is a small town in the Tasman District of New Zealand's South Island. It is located southwest of Nelson and southeast of Motueka. It is situated on the Motueka Valley Highway (formerly ) by the banks of the Motueka River. Hist ...

before reaching SH 6 at Kohatu Junction, close to the point where the Motueka River is joined by its tributary, the

Motupiko River The Motupiko River is a river of the Tasman Region of New Zealand's South Island. A major tributary of the Motueka River, it flows north from its origins southeast of the Hope Saddle, meeting the Motueka at Kohatu Junction, 15 kilometres west of ...

. Several of the small settlements along the highway's course are old gold mining towns from the 1860s Nelson Gold Rush, the first strike of which was at Waiwhero, just northeast of Ngātīmoti.Whelan, H. (1990)
Gold Rush in Waiwhero
, in ''Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies'', 2:4. Retrieved 7 December 2015.

References

{{New Zealand State Highway navbox 61 Tasman District Transport in the Tasman District

Route description

See also

References