The Waianakarua River is a river in

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

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 ...

, flowing into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It is crossed by Highway 1 at

Waianakarua The small town of Herbert, formerly Otepopo, lies in North Otago, New Zealand, north of Dunedin and south-west of Oamaru. It lies on the edge of the Herbert Forest. Herbert consists of a group of houses and three churches clustered around S ...

, south of

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

, by an old historic bridge. The river has a catchment size of approximately 260 km². The tiver has three main branches, simply known as the South, Middle, and North branches. All three branches flow from the slopes of the Horse Range. The South and Middle branches have their source in the hills between

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

and

Dunback Dunback, formerly Waihemo, is a small town in the Otago region of New Zealand. It is located between Palmerston and Ranfurly on Highway 85. It has a population of about 200 people. Most of these people live in the rural areas near the town. ...

. The North branch rises in several small streams close to Morrisons, the longest of which is called Waddells Creek, which rises 10 km north of Morrisons close to the southern end of the

Kakanui Range The Kakanui Range is a range of high hills located inland from Oamaru in the South Island of New Zealand. The range forms a boundary between the valley of the Waitaki River to the north and the high plateau known as the Maniototo and the upper w ...

. A notable archaeological site, a pre-European

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

-hunter settlement, exists at Tai Rua, just north of the river's mouth.Gathercole, P., (2010)
Tai Rua, North Otago
''Archaeology in New Zealand'', 53 (4), pp. 264–269.

References

Rivers of Otago Rivers of New Zealand {{Otago-river-stub

See also

References