The Kawhātau River is a river of about in the southwestern North Island of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Its source is in the

Ruahine Range The Ruahine Range is the largest of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand that form a ridge running parallel with the east coast of the island between East Cape and Wellington. The ridge is at its most pronounced from the cen ...

and its outflow is into the larger Rangitīkei River, which it meets close to Mangaweka. It was given the official name of Kawhātau River in 2020. It is joined by the Pourangaki River at Upper Kawhātau.

Geology

Like other parts of the Rangitīkei River system, the Kawhātau has been

incised Incision may refer to: * Cutting, the separation of an object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force * A type of open wound caused by a clean, sharp-edged object such as a knife, razor, or glass splinter ...

into the soft Quaternary, 3.5 to 1.7 million year old marine mudstones and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

s, as the land has risen since the last ice age. A large proportion of the sediment in the Rangitīkei comes from the Kawhātau. Gravel has long been taken from the river.

History

Māori skeletons and

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

bones were discovered near the river when the bush was being burnt. Felling of bush in the valley was first begun by 12

settler A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

s from

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

on in 1895. At that time the only access was by a cage suspended on a wire rope across the Rangitīkei from Mangaweka (then called Three Log Whare). Kawhātau Valley Road was being built by 1898. Sawmilling of

totara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane a ...

started about 1900 By 1905 it was also milling

mataī ''Prumnopitys taxifolia'', the mataī ( mi, mataī) or black pine, is an endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island/Rakiura (47 °S) but is uncommon there. It grows up ...

and

kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m and a life span of 600 years. It was fi ...

. St Stephen's Anglican church was built about 1917. Possum were released into the bush in 1923 at Hinakura. The area is now mainly one of sheep and beef farming, plus 3 commercial fruit and vegetable growers.

Bridges

The river was bridged between 1979 and 1981 by the NIMT railway, as part of the

Mangaweka deviation The Mangaweka Deviation is a 7 km single track deviation of the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) railway line in the central North Island of New Zealand, between the settlements of Mangaweka and Utiku, south of Taihape. Opened on 18 Novemb ...

, with a prestressed concrete box girder, plus end spans, giving a total length of , above the river. It is the 6th highest railway bridge in the country. The next bridge upstream carries Potaka Road and replaced a ford in 1908. The uppermost bridge is on Rangitane Road and was built about 1922 and replaced in 1974.

Wildlife

Plants found in the valley in 2000 included Mazus novaezeelandiae (dwarf musk), Anemanthele lessoniana (gossamer grass), Trisetum drucei (tufted grass), Scandia rosifolia, Azorella hookeri, Rubus squarrosus (bush lawyer), Trisetum lepidum (3-bristled grass), Uncinia leptostachya (hook-sedge), Asplenium flabellifolium (necklace fern), Korthalsella lindsayi (leafless mistletoe),

Myoporum laetum ''Myoporum laetum'', commonly known as ngaio or mousehole tree is a plant in the family Scrophulariaceae endemic to New Zealand, including the Chatham Islands. It is a fast growing shrub, readily distinguished from others in the genus by the tra ...

(Ngaio),

Olearia paniculata ''Olearia paniculata'', commonly called akiraho, is a species of shrub or tree in the family Asteraceae, found only in New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of tw ...

(Akiraho), Lastreopsis velutina (shieldfern) and Schoenus pauciflorus(Sedge tussock).

Walks

A circuit of the upper valley can be walked in 2, or 3 days, using Kawhatau Base, a former Forest Service hut at the foot of the Hikurangi Range, and Crow Hut. However, since 2016, landowners have closed routes to access the upper valley.

Schools

Kawhātau School opened in 1896. Pourangaki School opened in 1920.

References

External links

1895 map of settlement

Photo of Kawhātau sawmill about 1900

Photo of Kawhātau River from railway viaduct

2000 aerial photo showing braided river
{{Rangitikei District Rivers of Manawatū-Whanganui Rivers of New Zealand