Dart River (Otago) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Dart River (officially Dart River / Te Awa Whakatipu from ) flows through rugged forested country in the southwestern 
The Dart River, as many other areas in and around the Glenorchy and Queenstown area, was the location for many scenes filmed for ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. Examples are Isengard, filmed at Dan's Paddock, and Lothlórien in the forests slightly further north. The only road bridge across the river, north of Glenorchy and en route to the start 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 ...
of New Zealand. Partly in Mount Aspiring National Park
Mount Aspiring National Park is in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, north of Fiordland National Park, situated in Otago and Westland regions. The park forms part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site.
Geography
Establis ...
, it flows south-west and then south for from its headwaters in the Southern Alps and the Dart Glacier, eventually flowing into the northern end of Lake Wakatipu near Glenorchy.
There are many popular tramping
Tramping may refer to:
Travel
*Hiking
*Trekking
*Tramping in New Zealand, a style of backpacking or hiking
* Czech tramping, a Czech outdoors pastime
Places
* Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380, Saskatchewan, Canada
** Tramping Lake, Sas ...
tracks in the region. The Rees-Dart Track is a five-day loop which combines the valley of Te Awa Whakatipu with the nearby Rees River. Jetboats operate on the river.
The Dart River, as many other areas in and around the Glenorchy and Queenstown area, was the location for many scenes filmed for ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. Examples are Isengard, filmed at Dan's Paddock, and Lothlórien in the forests slightly further north. The only road bridge across the river, north of Glenorchy and en route to the start of the Routeburn Track
The Routeburn Track is a world-renowned, 32 km tramping (hiking) track found in the South Island of New Zealand. The track can be done in either direction, starting on the Queenstown side of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, a ...
, was used as the eponymous bridge in the 2020 television drama series One Lane Bridge
''One Lane Bridge'' is a New Zealand crime drama television series, premiering on TVNZ 1 in 2020. The series stars Dominic Ona-Ariki as Ariki Davis, a newcomer detective, Joel Tobeck as Stephen Tremaine, his superior, and Alison Bruce as Trema ...
.
The upper valley was the site of one of New Zealand's worst light aircraft accidents in 1989, when an Aspiring Air
Aspiring Air was an airline based in Wanaka, New Zealand. It operated charter pleasure flights around New Zealand's Southern Alps and scheduled services three times daily to Queenstown, connecting with Air New Zealand. Its main base was Wan ...
Britten-Norman Islander
The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...
crashed, killing all ten people on board.
Name
The river was first known by itsMāori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
name of , with literally translating as 'the river'. The name ''Whakatipu'' is shared with several nearby geographic features, including Lake Wakatipu and Whakatipu Kā Tuka
The Hollyford River / Whakatipu Kā Tuka is in the southwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It runs for through Fiordland, its sources being close to the Homer Tunnel and in Gertrude Valley in the southern Darran Mountains.
At first, the ...
(the Hollyford River) though this name is an archaic term and its original meaning is no longer known. During the 1860s, the runholder William Gilbert Rees named the river the Dart, after the river's swift flow.
In 1998, the river became one of nearly 90 geographic features to be given an official dual name as part of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998
The Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 is an act of Parliament passed in New Zealand relating to Ngāi Tahu, the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. It was negotiated in part by Henare Rakiihia Tau. The documents in relation to the ...
, a Treaty of Waitangi settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
*Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fina ...
between Ngāi Tahu and the Crown. This dual name combined the name Dart River with the Māori name, in recognition of the significance of both names.
Notes
References
Rivers of Otago Mount Aspiring National Park Rivers of New Zealand {{Otago-river-stub