| Kawarau River | |
|---|---|
 Kawarau River with Roaring Meg hydro station | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | Otago |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Lake Wakatipu |
| Mouth | |
• location | Lake Dunstan |
| Length | 60 km (37 mi) |
TheKawarau River is a river in theSouth Island of New Zealand. It drainsLake Wakatipu in northwesternOtago via the lake'sFrankton Arm. The river flows generally eastwards for about 60 kilometres (37 mi) and passes through the steepKawarau Gorge until it joinsLake Dunstan nearCromwell. Before the construction of the Clyde High Dam, the Kawarau joined theClutha River / Mata-Au in a spectacular confluence at Cromwell. TheShotover River enters the Kawarau from the north; theNevis River enters it from the south. With many rapids and strong currents, the river can be dangerous and has claimed many lives. It is popular forbungy jumping andkayaking.
A natural bridge,Whatatorere, where the river narrows to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft), was important first to earlyMāori and then to goldminers as the only place the Mata-Au and the Kawarau could be crossed without boats. Māori were heading for theCardrona Valley to reachWānaka, and on to theHaast Pass to seekpounamu. The miners were seeking gold in the Arrow Goldfields.[1]
Now the main road toQueenstown,State Highway 6, runs through the Kawarau Gorge.
Kawarau is aMāori name meaning"channel between rocks or shoals".[2] It shares its name with themountain range at its source.[3]
It is pronounced 'ka wa ro',[citation needed] and has its etymological roots in theWaitaha orsouthern dialect of Māori. It should not be confused with theBay of Plenty town ofKawerau.
The falls where the river leaves Whakatipu Waimāori are called Ōterotu.[3]
ForNgāi Tahu, the river was the main travel route from theMata-Au to Lake Wakatipu.[3] A key feature was the narrow gorge atWhatatorere orPōtiki-whata-rumaki-nao, the only place where the Kawarau and Mata-Au rivers could be leapt over. It connected to a route over theCrown Range and on to theCardrona Valley that led to the West Coast.
In the 19th century, alluvialgold was extracted from the river. The Goldfields Mining Centre, downstream of the gorge, features a working exhibition of 19th centurygold mining techniques.[4] Some of the miners' huts remain today, many of them close to thrivingvineyards.
In 1924 a company was formed to drain the river by blocking off Lake Wakatipu, with the intent of then collecting gold from the river bed. Ten massive gates were completed in 1927 and although the river level dropped it was not laid bare as planned. The gates formed part of State Highway 6 until December 2017, when a larger $22 million replacement bridge was completed.[5]
Awater conservation order was set up in March 1997, seven years after the minister of conservation first applied for an agreement to prevent hydroelectric dams from being built in the Kawarau river or its tributaries.[6]
The Order covers the stretch of river from the Lake Wakatipu control gates to Scrubby Stream.[7]Fish and Game has sought an amendment to the Water Conservation Order to prevent any damming of theNevis River and to seek conditions on changes to the minimum flows.[8]
The first European to visit the area wasNathanael Chalmers, who was guided inland by ChiefsReko and Kaikōura in 1853.[9] Reko and Kaikōura showed Chalmers the rock bridgeWhatatorere atRoaring Meg, which was the only place that the Kawarau River could be crossed,[10] and returned him down the river on amōkihi, a flax reed open kayak.[1] In 1910, 57 years after the event, Nathanael Chalmers remembered his boat trip through the Cromwell Gorge: ‘I shall never forget the “race” through the gorge ... my heart was literally in my mouth, but those two old men seemed to care nothing for the current.’[11]
More recent tourist adventure activities on the river includeriverboarding, jet boating, white water rafting,river surfing, andbungy jumping. TheKawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge, 43 metres (141 ft) above the river, and a Category I historic place,[12] is the site of theworld's first commercial bungy jumping operation. Eastburn Station gave up the 1.2 square kilometres (300 acres) plus that forms the natural backdrop as a reserve.
The Kawarau is the largest volume river commerciallyrafted in New Zealand, with an average flow of 216 cubic metres per second (7,600 cu ft/s) at Chards Road measuring station.[13] The four significant commercially used rapids on the river are Smiths Falls, Twin Bridges, Do Little Do Nothing and the 400-metre (1,300 ft) Chinese Dog Leg. Below these are the dangerous Nevis Bluff, Citroen, Retrospect, and Roaring Meg sections. Because of the danger Waitiri Station usually declines access.[14]
The Kawarau featured as a setting for theArgonath in the 2001 motion picture,The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Kawarau appeared on the finale of the Israeli reality showHaMerotz LaMillion 1.[15]
Frederick John Cato of the firmMoran & Cato, was a teacher from Invercargill, New Zealand, where he met and married Frances Bethune.Kawarau was the name they gave their expansive home in Hawthorn East,Victoria.
Bridges that pass over the Kawarau River are:
Until it was destroyed in the 19th century, the natural rock bridge "Whatatorere" at Roaring Meg was the only place that the Kawarau River orClutha River could be crossed without boats.[10]
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