The Mōtū River is a major waterway in the eastern part of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

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 ...

. It rises south-west of

Mātāwai Mātāwai is a small inland settlement in the Gisborne Region in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the upper reaches of the Mōtū River, in the Raukumara Range. It is on State Highway 2 between Gisborne and Ōpōti ...

in the

Gisborne District Gisborne District or the Gisborne Region (Māori language, Māori: ''Te Tairāwhiti'' or ''Te Tai Rāwhiti'') is a local government area of northeastern New Zealand. It is governed by Gisborne District Council, a unitary authority (with the co ...

, on the south-western side of the Raukūmara Range, and heads roughly northwards to the Pacific Ocean. It flows in a gorge the whole way through the range, where its important tributaries merge with it. It empties into the eastern

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

at Houpoto, between

Hāwai Hāwai is a coastal settlement in the Ōpōtiki District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. History Hāwai is in the ''rohe'' (traditional tribal area) of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui. Te Whānau ā Apanui placed a ''rāhui'' on ...

and

Ōmāio Omaio is a coastal township in the Ōpōtiki District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. During the 20th century, families collectively farmed the area for sheep and beef. More recently, they have been considering a shift t ...

, north-east of

Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council, the mayor of Ōpōtiki and comes under the Bay of Plenty Region ...

Description

The river passes through mostly uninhabited hill country, very steep and still thickly covered in rainforest.

History

The first modern traverse of the river, from the Mōtū Falls to its mouth, was in 1920 by the Fisher brothers and S. Thorburn, and this was re-enacted in 2013 by Kevin Biggar and Jamie Fitzgerald in series 2 of the "First Crossings" TV series. A mid-20th century proposal to dam the river for

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

was rejected.G. W. Gray, 1954. "An Account of the Motu River Hydro Investigations". ''Whakatane Historical Society Newsletter'' 15/2:140-142

Recreation

It is much used for adventure tourism (jet-boating and white-water rafting).

References

External links

* First Crossings TV series links
TV OneFacebook page
an
website
Rivers of the Bay of Plenty Region Rivers of the Gisborne District Ōpōtiki District {{Gisborne-river-stub