The Wainui River is a river of 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 New Zealand's

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 ...

. Wainui is a

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 ...

term (''wai'' meaning water, and ''nui'' meaning large, expansive) and the umbrella entity for the three local iwi gives a meaning of "where the tidal flow leaves a big expanse of bay empty". The Wainui River flows north through

Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a New Zealand national park located between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere at the north end of the South Island. It is named after Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight New ...

from its sources on the slopes of

Mount Evans Mount Evans is the highest peak in the Mount Evans Wilderness in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent 14,271-foot (4,350 m) fourteener is located southwest by south ( bearing 214°) of Idaho Springs in Clear C ...

to reach the small

Wainui Bay Wainui Bay is within Golden Bay, and at the south-eastern end of Golden Bay, in the Tasman Region of the South Island, New Zealand. Bordering the Abel Tasman National Park, it is approximately north-east of Tākaka Tākaka is a small town ...

, an indentation close to the eastern end of

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 ...

. The sources of Wainui River near Wainui Saddle are close to the

Abel Tasman Inland Track The Abel Tasman Inland Track is a 38 km Tramping in New Zealand, tramping track that runs through the centre of the Abel Tasman National Park and is maintained by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, Department of Conservation. It di ...

. Shortly after, the Wainui Track follows its course for a few kilometers, with Wainui Hut situated next to the river. Almost all of Wainui River's course is through dense native bush, with the lower half meandering through a narrow

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

where the river eventually flows over the tall

Wainui Falls Wainui Falls is a waterfall in Wainui Bay, in the Tasman region of New Zealand. The waterfall is part of the Wainui River and cascades over granite bedrock into a deep pool at its base. It is the largest and most accessible waterfall in the ...

, one of the most accessible waterfalls in the Tasman region. Wainui Falls can be reached from a car park in Wainui Bay via the gentle Wainui Falls Track.

References

Rivers of the Tasman District Rivers of New Zealand {{Tasman-river-stub

See also

References