The Hokonui Hills, also known as ''The Hokonui Mountains'' or simply ''The Hokonui'', are a range of hills in central

Southland, New Zealand Southland ( mi, Murihiku) is New Zealand's southernmost region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. It includes Southland District, Gore District and the city of Invercargill. The ...

. They rise to 600 metres above the surrounding

Southland Plains The Southland Plains is a general name given to several areas of low-lying land in the South Island of New Zealand, separated by the rise of the Hokonui Hills in the north. It forms a sizeable area of Southland region and encompasses its two pr ...

, of which the hills mark a northern extremity. The Hokonui forms part of the Southland Syncline, a geological fold system which extends northwestward from the coast at

The Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southla ...

. Owing to the

transform fault A transform fault or transform boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal. It ends abruptly where it connects to another plate boundary, either another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subduct ...

which forms the

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

, the westernmost part of the syncline has been transported several hundred kilometres to the north; this western section includes many of the hills within the Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island. The Hokonui Hills also splits the Southland Plains in two - to the north and east lies the broad

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the Mataura River, and to the south and west lie the plains of the Aparima and

Ōreti River The Ōreti River (formerly the Oreti River) is one of the main rivers of Southland, New Zealand, and is long. The river has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because, for much of its length, it supports bree ...

s. The Ōreti's major tributary, the Makarewa River, rises in the south of the Hokonui Hills. The hills lie within a triangle formed by the towns of

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...

to the east, Lumsden to the north, and Winton to the southwest, and cover approximately 1,200 km².

Hokonui moonshine

During the nineteenth century, the region gained a reputation for the production of illicit

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

known as ''Hokonui

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

''. The association between the region and illicit alcohol lasted until the 1930s and has passed into New Zealand folklore. The Hokonui Moonshiner Museum in Gore celebrates the "colourful history of illicit whiskey making and consumption"."Illicit Whisky Still"
1934, Auckland Star

External links

Google Map

References

{{coord, -45.9502, 168.6237, type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title Landforms of Southland, New Zealand Mountain ranges of New Zealand Gore District, New Zealand Hills of New Zealand