The Mangatainoko River, Seventy Mile Bush, N

The Mangatainoka River flows in the

Tararua District The Tararua District is a district near the south-east corner of New Zealand's North Island that is administered by the Tararua District Council. It has a population of and an area of 4,364.65 km². The Tararua District Council was created b ...

of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. Its water was considered so pure a brewery, now the well-known Tui Brewery, was established there. Its headwaters are on the eastern side of the

Tararua Range The Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand. The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of ...

to the southwest of the town of Eketahuna, and it roughly parallels the

Wairarapa Line The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and State Highway 2 through the

before meeting the Tiraumea River just before its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with the Manawatu River just south of Woodville. The railway's bridge across the river between Newman and Hukanui is the longest on the entire line. Further north, the small settlement of Mangatainoka sits on the river's banks north of

Pahiatua , image_skyline = Market day pahiatua 1st dec 2007 1.JPG , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shi ...

. The name ''Mangatainoka'' 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 ...

words ''manga'', meaning stream, and ''tainoka'', meaning ''

Carmichaelia australis ''Carmichaelia australis'', or common broom, is a species of pea in the family Fabaceae. It is native to New Zealand and found in both the North and South Islands. Its conservation status (2018) is "Not Threatened" under the New Zealand Threat ...

'', a native broom plant. Prior to European settlement of New Zealand, the shallow river was thickly lined with matai,

rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...

, and

totara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...

trees that prevented serious flooding to the swampy lands alongside the river. However, large-scale removal of the forest and drainage of the fertile land for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

has caused the river to flow faster, deepening its

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

, heightening

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

, and encouraging it to meander to try to return to its slower pace. This has resulted in devastating floods, including one in October 2000 that caused at least

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

200,000-300,000 of damage to the regional council's scheme to stabilise the river and rehabilitate its environment. The river is popular for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, especially for

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

. Approximately of the river is fishable, and easily accessible, due to its proximity to State Highway 2 and major northern Wairarapa towns.Fish and Game New Zealand
Wellington Region - Fishing: Access

References

{{coord, 40, 24, S, 175, 53, E, display=title, region:NZ_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Manawatū-Whanganui Rivers of New Zealand