The Matukituki River is a short

braided river A braided river (also called braided channel or braided stream) consists of a network of river channel (geography), channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called ''braid bars'' or, in British English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. ...

in the

Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) are a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand, New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The n ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. 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 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. History Moun ...

and continues for another to exit into

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 So ...

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 consolidated the rock, and then uplifted it to form the Main Divide. The present landscape was shaped by glacial processes during the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

s, when huge glaciers filled and scoured out the valleys. The area around Mount Aspiring, called Tititea by the

Māori 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 Co ...

, has a long history of Māori tribes coming from as far as Coastal Otago and the

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, O ...

to the inland lakes to collect

kākāpō The kākāpō (; : ; ''Strigops habroptilus''), sometimes known as the owl parrot or owl-faced parrot, is a species of large, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the superfamily Strigopoidea. It is endemic to New Zealand. Kākāpō can be u ...

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa (Māori language#Northern dialects, northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin describ ...

kākā The New Zealand kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') is a large species of parrot of the family New Zealand parrot, Strigopidae found in New Zealand, New Zealand's native forests across the three main Islands of New Zealand. The species is often kn ...

and

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 on ...

from the forest. Moa would have also have lived along the forest edges for the first 200 years of Māori settlement. The historic Māori ''

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

'' (tribes) of

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 centu ...

and

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, Blenhe ...

both had named settlements around the shores of Lakes Wānaka and Hāwea, including Nehenehe on the northern banks of the mouth of the Matukituki River, which they called "Mātakitaki". Ovens for cooking ''tī kōuka'' (cabbage tree) roots have been found at several sites on the lake shore.

recorded Mātakitaki as a (food-gathering place) for (eels), (cabbage tree root), and (bracken fernroot). The first European to see Mount Aspiring was government surveyor John Turnbull Thompson in 1857. The West Matukituki Valley was explored by

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 ...

in 1862. Sheep and cattle farming began progressing up the valley in the 1870s.

Fauna and flora

Today,

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

is the dominant forest in the Matukituki Valley. Red beech prefers warmer valley sites, and is common just below Aspiring Hut.

Silver beech ''Nothofagus menziesii'', commonly known as silver beech, is a species of evergreen tree in the family Nothofagaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is widespread in the North and South Islands. It reaches a height of up to tall, with a tr ...

grows increasingly towards the wetter, western end of the valley, while mountain beech dominates the drier, eastern end. The understory of the typically open forests supports a variety of ferns and mosses. Above the tree line, at about , stunted, sub-alpine shrub land gives way to alpine tussock grasslands and fell fields. Insect-eating birds such as pīwakawaka,

tomtit The tomtit (''Petroica macrocephala'') is a small passerine bird in the family (biology), family Petroicidae, the Australasian robins. It is endemic (ecology), endemic to the islands of New Zealand, ranging across the main islands as well as s ...

and

rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifling, rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction o ...

thrive in the beech forest, whereas the seed-eating

kākāriki The three species of kākāriki (also spelled ''kakariki'', without macrons), or New Zealand parakeets, are the most common species of parakeets in the genus ''Cyanoramphus'', family (biology), family Psittaculidae. The most commonly used name ' ...

specifically prefers areas of red beech.

Paradise shelduck The paradise shelduck (''Tadorna variegata''), also known as the paradise duck, or in Māori, is a species of shelduck, a group of goose-like ducks, which is endemic to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin placed it in the genus '' Anas'' w ...

thrive on the river flats, and in summer,

spur-winged plover The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover (''Vanellus spinosus'') is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. Taxonomy The spur-winged lapwing was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturali ...

and oystercatchers are a common sight on farmland and along the drive from Wānaka. The valley is also home to the

kea The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...

, whio, South Island robin, rock wren, the South Island long tailed bat, and several species of lizards.

Tourism

The Matukituki River valley is home to a ski resort ( Treble Cone), a

jetboat A jetboat is a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses an external propeller in the water below or behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat through a ...

operator (River Journeys) and numerous tramping (walking) trails providing access to landmarks such as the Rob Roy Glacier, the Dart Saddle, and the Cascade Saddle. The unsealed Wanaka - Mount Aspiring Road follows the river's true right for most of its course, past the confluence of the East Branch and West Branch, and part-way along the West Branch to a Department of Conservation NZ car park at the Raspberry Creek shelter. The most popular walk in the area is the Rob Roy Glacier walk, which leads up a side valley to a view point beneath Rob Roy Glacier. The walking track crosses the Matukituki River West Branch over a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

Gallery

Matukituki River flows under the West Wanaka bridge before emptying into Lake Wanaka.jpg, The West Wanaka Bridge Rob Roy Glacier Walk (5863472274).jpg, The Rob Roy Glacier walk Matukituki River West Branch downstream from swingbridge towards Sharks Tooth Peak.jpg, Matukituki River West Branch looking towards Sharks Tooth Peak

References

{{Subject bar, auto=y, d=y Rivers of Otago Rivers of Mount Aspiring National Park Tributaries of the Clutha River