Inch Clutha
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Inch Clutha is a large, flat island sitting in the delta between the Matau (northern) and Koau (southern) branches of the Clutha River, downstream from the town of Balclutha in the
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 ...
of
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 ...
. Approximately long and wide, the fertile but flood-prone land of the island is extensively farmed. The island was formed in 1878 after a massive flood changed the course of the Clutha, which had formerly reached the ocean 4 km to the south at Port Molyneux. The island takes its name from Scots Gaelic, ''innis'' meaning "island" and ''Cluaidh'' being the Gaelic form of the name of
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
's
River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
. The island is sparsely inhabited, consisting of a handful of farm houses distributed fairly evenly across the island. Only two bridges link the island to the South Island proper, both of them connecting with the Kaitangata Highway (former SH 91), one at the northern end of the island close to
Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
, and the other about one kilometre from Kaitangata. The southwestern shore of the island, along the Koau branch, includes several small
oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...
s – in the north, close to Finegand, and also some 3 km from the
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
coast. The northern shore contains no current oxbows, though the Matau branch travels through several large meanders (especially close to Kaitangata) which are likely to eventually become oxbows. In the largest of these, a 3500 m loop of river bends back on itself to create a neck of farmland only some 120 metres wide. At the southern end of the island, a channel links the two branches, separating Inch Clutha from a smaller broad, low-lying barrier islet sitting between it and the Pacific coast. The northern tip of Inch Clutha sits directly across the Clutha River from Balclutha Aerodrome, on the southern edge of the town. The first settlers moved there in 1848 forming a small community.


References

*McKinnon, M.
Inch Clutha and the River Mouth
" '' Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', 29 July 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2018. River islands of New Zealand Islands of Otago Clutha River Clutha District {{Otago-geo-stub