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Matukituki Valley, 1847
The Matukituki River is a short braided river in the Southern Alps of New Zealand's South Island. Both its West Branch and East Branch originate from the Main Divide mountain ranges near Mount Aspiring / Tititea. Their largely glacier-fed waters each flow for approximately before joining near Camerons Flat. After this confluence, the Matukituki River leaves the boundaries of Mount Aspiring National Park and continues for another to exit into Lake Wānaka at the lake's southwestern edge. Six glaciers feed tributary streams to the Matukituki River, the largest being the Upper Volta Glacier, Rob Roy Glacier, Maud Francis Glacier, and the Avalanche Glacier. From Camerons Flat onwards, the river is increasingly braided until it passes through a narrow gorge and under the West Wanaka bridge just before Lake Wānaka. History Most of the Southern Alps started over 220 million years ago as sediment and rock on top of volcanic rocks on the seafloor. Intense heat and pressure cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Wānaka
Lake Wānaka is New Zealand's List of lakes in New Zealand#Largest lakes, fourth-largest lake and the seat of the town of Wānaka in the Otago region. The lake is 278 meters above sea level, covers , and is more than deep. "Wānaka" is the South Island dialect pronunciation of , which means "the lore of the tohunga or priest" or a place of learning. Geography Geography Lake Wānaka lies at the heart of the Otago Lakes in the lower South Island of New Zealand. The township of Wānaka, which sits in a glacier-carved basin on the shores of the lake, is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park, Mt Aspiring National Park. Lake Hāwea is a 15-minute drive away, en route to the frontier town of Makarora, the last stop before the West Coast Glacier region. To the south is the historic Cardrona Valley, a popular scenic alpine route to neighbouring Queenstown, New Zealand, Queenstown. Geology Lake Wānaka lies in a u-shaped valley formed by glacier, glacial erosion during the las ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foveaux Strait
Foveaux Strait ( ; ) is a strait that separates Stewart Island from the South Island of New Zealand. The width of the strait ranges from about , and the depth varies between . The strait was first charted by an American Seal hunting, sealer, Owen Folger Smith. He charted the strait from a whaleboat of the sealing brig ''Union (1802 ship), Union'' in 1804. The passage was named Foveaux Strait in March 1809, after Joseph Foveaux, the Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales in Australia. Ferry services across Foveaux Strait began in 1877 and continue to operate regularly between Bluff, New Zealand, Bluff Harbour and Oban, New Zealand, Oban. The strait has been described as "one of the roughest and most unpredictable stretches of water in the world". Severe weather and sea conditions in the strait have contributed to Foveaux Strait#Shipwrecks, multiple shipwrecks and fatalities. One of these losses was the wreck of the SS Tararua, SS ''Tararua'' in 1881—the worst maritime disaster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nothofagus Fusca
''Nothofagus fusca'', commonly known as red beech (Māori: tawhai raunui) is a species of southern beech, endemic to New Zealand, occurring on both the North and South Island. It is generally found on lower hills and inland valley floors where soil is fertile and well drained. In New Zealand the species is called ''Fuscospora fusca''. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 35 m tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, broad ovoid, 2 to 4 cm long and 1.5 to 3 cm broad, the margin distinctively double-toothed with each lobe bearing two teeth. The fruit is a small cupule containing three seeds. Pollen from the tree was found near the Antarctic Peninsula, showing that it formerly grew in Antarctica since the Eocene period. Red beech is not currently considered threatened. Uses Red beech is the only known plant source, apart from rooibos (''Aspalathus linearis''), of the C-linked dihydrochalcone glycoside nothofagin. It is also grown as an ornamental tree in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nothofagus
''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. The species are ecological dominants in many temperate forests in these regions. Some species are reportedly naturalised in Germany and Great Britain. The genus has a rich fossil record of leaves, Calybium and cupule, cupules, and pollen, with fossils extending into the late Cretaceous period and occurring in Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and South America. Description The leaf, leaves are toothed or entire, evergreen or deciduous. The fruit is a small, flattened or triangular nut (fruit), nut, borne in cupules containing one to seven nuts. Reproduction Many individual trees are extremely old, and at one time, some populations were thought to be unable to reproduce in present-day conditions where they were gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Hector
Sir James Hector (16 March 1834 – 6 November 1907) was a Scottish-New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employed man of science in New Zealand, and during this period he dominated the colony's scientific institutions in a way that no single person has since. Early life He was born at 11 Danube Street in Stockbridge, Edinburgh the son of Alexander Hector WS and his wife, Margaret Macrostie. He attended the Edinburgh Academy from 1844 to 1845. At 14, he began articles as an actuary at his father's office. He joined University of Edinburgh as a medical student and received his medical degree in 1856 at the age of 22. Palliser expedition Shortly after receiving his medical degree, upon the recommendation of Sir Roderick Murchison – director-general of the British Geological Survey – Hector was appointed geologist on the Palliser Expedition under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Turnbull Thompson
John Turnbull Thomson (10 August 1821 – 16 October 1884) was a British civil engineer and artist who played an instrumental role in the development of the early infrastructure of nineteenth-century Singapore and New Zealand. He lived the last 28 years of his life in New Zealand, and prior to that 15 years in the Malay Straits and Singapore. Early life, family and education Thomson was born at Glororum, Northumberland, England, the third child of Alexander Thomson and his wife, Janet, ''née'' Turnbull. After his father was killed in a hunting accident in 1830, the young Thomson and his mother went to live in Abbey St. Bathans, Berwickshire. He was educated at Wooler and Duns Academy, later spending some time attached to Marischal College, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh University before studying engineering at Peter Nicholson's School of Engineering at Newcastle-on-Tyne. Career Thomson arrived in the Malay Straits in 1838 and was employed by the East India Survey. In 1841 he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Department Of Conservation (New Zealand)
The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori language, Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand Conservation Authority, New Zealand Conservation Authority (NZCA) is provided to advise DOC and its ministers. In addition there are 15 conservation boards for different areas around the country that provide for interaction between DOC and the public. Functions and history Overview The department was formed on 1 April 1987, as one of several reforms of the public service, when the ''Conservation Act 1987'' was passed to integrate some functions of the Department of Lands and Survey, the New Zealand Forest Service, Forest Service and the New Zealand Wildlife Service, Wildlife Service. This act also set out the majority of the department's responsibilities and roles. As a consequence of Conservation Act all Crown land in New Zealand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cordyline Australis
''Cordyline australis'', commonly known as the cabbage tree, or by its Māori language, Māori name of ''tī'' or ''tī kōuka'', is a widely branched monocotyledon, monocot tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to tall with a stout trunk and sword-like leaves, which are clustered at the tips of the branches and can be up to long. With its tall, straight trunk and dense, rounded heads, it is a characteristic feature of the New Zealand landscape. It is common over a wide latitudinal range from the far north of the North Island to the south of the South Island. It grows in a broad range of habitat (ecology), habitats. The largest known tree, growing at Pākawau, Golden Bay / Mohua, is estimated to be 400 or 500 years old, and stands tall with a circumference of at the base. Known to Māori as , the tree was used as a source of food, particularly in the South Island, where it was cultivated in areas where other crops would not grow. It provided durable fiber crop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Hāwea
Lake Hāwea is New Zealand's ninth largest lake located on the South Island in the Otago Region at an altitude of 348 m. It covers 141 km2 and is 392 m deep. Lake Hāwea is named after a Māori tribe who preceded the Waitaha people in the area. Lake Hāwea stretches 35 km from north to south. It lies in a glacial valley formed during the last ice age, and is fed by the Hunter River. Nearby Lake Wānaka lies in a parallel glacial valley 8 km to the west. At their closest point, a rocky ridge called The Neck, the lakes are only 1 km apart. Lake Hāwea is dammed to the south by an ancient terminal moraine created 10 000 years ago. In 1958, the lake was artificially raised 20 metres to store more water for increased hydroelectric power generation at the Roxburgh Dam. The only flat land around the lake is at its southern end, surrounding its outflow into the Hāwea River, a short tributary of the Clutha / Matau-au, which it joins near Albert Town. The settlement of Lake H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenheim), Mount Māhanga and Kahurangi Point in the north to Stewart Island / Rakiura in the south. The comprises 18 (governance areas) corresponding to traditional settlements. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, 2023 census an estimated 84,000 people affiliated with the Kāi Tahu iwi. Ngāi Tahu originated in the Gisborne District of the North Island, along with Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu, who all intermarried amongst the local Ngāti Ira. Over time, all but Ngāti Porou would migrate away from the district. Several were already occupying the South Island prior to Ngāi Tahu's arrival, with Kāti Māmoe only having arrived about a century earlier from the Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings District, and already having conquered W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kāti Māmoe
Kāti Māmoe (also spelled Ngāti Māmoe) is a Māori iwi. Originally from the Heretaunga Plains of New Zealand's Hawke's Bay, they moved in the 16th century to the South Island which at the time was already occupied by the Waitaha. A century later, the Ngāti Māmoe were largely subsequently absorbed via marriage and conquest by Ngāi Tahu, who migrated south in turn. There are many hapū (sub tribes) that acknowledge Kāti Māmoe as their iwi. They each have their own rūnanga (council). Many Ngāi Tahu have Ngāti Māmoe links in their whakapapa. In the far south of the island especially, "... southern Māori still think of themselves as Ngai Tahu-Ngati Mamoe, a synthesis of the two tribal groups ...." According to Edward Shortland, Kāti Māmoe's historical hapū included Kāti Rakai and Kāti Hinekato. History Early history Kāti Māmoe's descent is said to be traced from the ancestor Hotumāmoe, said to be a descendant of Toi, a great-great-great grandson of Rā ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tūī
The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze coloured with a distinctive white throat tuft (poi). It is an endemism, endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the only species in the genus ''Prosthemadera''. It is one of the largest species in the diverse Australasian honeyeater family Meliphagidae, and one of two living species of that family found in New Zealand, the other being the New Zealand bellbird (''Anthornis melanura''). The tūī has a wide distribution in the archipelago, ranging from the subtropical Kermadec Islands to the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands, as well as the main islands. Taxonomy Europeans first encountered the tūī in 1770 at Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui, Queen Charlotte Sound on the north coast of New Zealand's South Island during James Cook, Captain James Cook's First voyage of James Cook, first voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Specimens were brought back to England an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
