The Riuwaka River, formerly known as the Riwaka River, is located in the Nelson region in the northwest of New Zealand's

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 ...

. It flows for 20 kilometres, entering

Tasman Bay Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches alon ...

close to the town of

Riwaka Riwaka () is a small settlement in the Tasman District of New Zealand's South Island. It lies beside Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, five kilometres north of Motueka, and close to the mouth of the Riuwaka River. The land where the town is based w ...

, 10 kilometres north of

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding district has a numb ...

. The valleys of the Riuwaka and nearby

Tākaka River The Tākaka River lies in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It runs north for 70 kilometres, entering Golden Bay near the town of Tākaka. Naming Manawhenua Ki Mohua, an iwi-mandated organisation representing Ngāti Tama, Ngāti R ...

form part of the pass over which the only road between Tasman Bay and

Golden Bay Golden Bay may refer to: * Golden Bay / Mohua Golden Bay / Mohua is a large shallow bay in New Zealand's Tasman District, near the northern tip of the South Island. An arm of the Tasman Sea, the bay lies northwest of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aore ...

runs. For part of its journey, the river flows underground through

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s, returning to the open air at ''The Riuwaka Resurgence''. This spot is popular with both holidaymakers and divers, as the water is always crystal clear, and is very cold even in the heat of mid-summer. The name of the river was officially altered to Riuwaka River in August 2014, following the Treaty of Waitangi settlements between

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

and local

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

Ngāti Rārua Ngāti Rārua are a Māori tribe ( of the Tainui tribal confederation. Ngāti Rārua stem from the marriage of Rārua-ioio and Tū-pāhau and, like other Tainui tribes, had their original home in the Waikato, specifically on the west coast of ...

and

Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui is a Māori iwi (tribe) in the upper South Island of New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends from Golden Bay and Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island to Cape Campbell, St Arnaud and Westport. Mar ...

References

External links

Images of diving at the Riwaka Resurgence
Caves of the Tasman District Rivers of the Tasman District Rivers of New Zealand Ngāti Rārua Te Atiawa o Te Waka-a-Māui Tasman Bay Rivers of Kahurangi National Park {{Tasman-river-stub

See also

References

External links