The Tukituki River is found in the eastern
North Island of New Zealand. It flows from the
Ruahine Ranges to 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 contin ...
at the southern end of
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...
.
The river flows for , east and then northeast, passing through the town of
Waipukurau
Waipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Tukituki River, 7 kilometres south of Waipawa and 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings.
...
before flowing into Hawke's Bay, close to the city of
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
. There, the Tukituki Valley is separated from
Havelock North
Havelock North ( mi, Te Hemo-a-Te Atonga) is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of loca ...
/Hastings by the craggy range of hills that includes
Te Mata Peak
Te Mata Peak is a peak south of Hastings rising up to 399m in the Te Mata Hills in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. A sealed road leads to the popular lookout at the summit, as well as many trails for hikers and mountain bikers. The Hastin ...
.
Etymology
The Maori name Tukituki roughly translates "to demolish", presumably referring to the power of the river in flood. Maori legend has it that there are two
taniwha
In Māori mythology, taniwha () are large supernatural beings that live in deep pools in rivers, dark caves, or in the sea, especially in places with dangerous currents or deceptive breakers (giant waves).
They may be considered highly respected ...
living in lake at the southern end of the river that fought over a young boy after he fell into the lake. The struggle of the two taniwha was thought to split the river into the
Waipawa
Waipawa is the second-largest town in Central Hawke's Bay in the east of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a population of At the 2013 census, it had a population of 1,965, a change of 2.2 percent from the 2006 census.
The town is locate ...
and Tukituki Rivers and thereby draining the lake.
See also
Tributaries
*
Mangaonuku Stream
References
External links
Tukituki River in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
Rivers of the Hawke's Bay Region
Rivers of New Zealand
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