Pelorus Bridge is a tiny locality in

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, New Zealand where the Rai River meets

Pelorus River Te Hoiere / Pelorus River is a river at the northern end of South Island of New Zealand in the region of Marlborough. It flows from the Richmond Range into Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere. This area is fantastic for camping and is renowned for its mag ...

. crosses the Pelorus River at Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve, which was used as one of the film locations for '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug''. You can take
guided kayak tour
to experience this Hobbit filming location. Rai River and Pelorus River from swing bridge

Rai River and Pelorus River from swing bridge

The scenic reserve contains one of the last stands of original river flat forest in the area. The forest contains a mixture of

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and other broadleaf species, as well as mature

podocarps Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pr ...

such as

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 ...

kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m and a life span of 600 years. It was firs ...

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 ...

towering over the canopy. Several easy walking tracks connect the camping ground, picnic site, river, and the carparks. A circular walk leads over a pedestrian suspension bridge over the Rai River. The closest small towns are

Rai Valley Rai Valley is a rural settlement in Marlborough Region, Marlborough, New Zealand. It is located on , northwest of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenheim and east of Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson. The Rai River runs past the locality to join the Pelorus R ...

7 km to the north, and

Canvastown Canvastown is a locality at the point where the Wakamarina River joins the Pelorus River, in Marlborough, New Zealand. runs through the area. Rai Valley is 17 km to the northwest. Havelock is 10 km to the east. The town was founded i ...

8 km to the east. A cafe is situated at the Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve.

History

The first Pelorus Bridge was built in 1863. Since 1885, when a second bridge was built, the route between Nelson and the Wairau Valley followed the course of the present road. The Pelorus Valley was forested until the early 1880s. From 1881 until the early 20th century, most of the lowland forest was milled. In 1865, a township was planned for the area at Pelorus Bridge, however, the plans were delayed in 1912 and the area eventually became a scenic reserve.

Vegetation and Wildlife

The lowland forest at Pelorus Bridge consists of mature podocarps like rimu, kahikatea, miro, mataī and tōtara and black, hard, red and silver beech trees. Birds present include

korimako The New Zealand bellbird (''Anthornis melanura''), also known by its Māori names korimako, makomako, and kōmako, is a passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It has greenish colouration and is the only living member of the genus ''Anthornis''. T ...

tūī The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a boisterous medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze colored with a distinctive white throat tuft. It is an endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the only spe ...

, pīwakawaka and

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'') or New Zealand pigeon is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white br ...

. A population of long-tailed bats live in the forest. A rare and primitive beetle, '' Horelophus walkeri'' lives in the splash zone of waterfalls in the area.

References

External links

Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve (DoC website)
{{Marlborough Region, state=collapsed Populated places in the Marlborough Region