The Aropaoanui (Awapawanui) river runs through northern Hawke's Bay Region in the eastern North Island of New Zealand.
The Aropaoanui (Awapawanui) river runs through northern Hawke's Bay Region in the eastern North Island of New Zealand.
Aropaoanui is a Māori word which roughly translates to 'big smoke'. In local myth, the area was named when the local tribe were roasting their captives on a fire after a victory in battle. The fatty pulp around the kidneys of their victims began to bubble, giving the impression that the victims were still alive, which terrified the tribespeople.
The upper part of the river, above its junction with the Mairau Stream, is called the Waikoau River, [1] a name also given to a river in the South Island. [2] The Waikoua rises from streams on the Maungaharuru Range, [3] running generally south-southeastwards, flowing through steep-sided gullies. It is joined by a tributary, the Mahiaruhe Stream, which is the main outflow of Lake Tūtira, [4] also known as Tūtira Stream where it leaves the lake, [5] after which it continues south along the lake's western flank. [6]
South of the lake, the river is crossed by State Highway 2 before veering eastward, joining with the Mairau Stream to become the Aropaoanui. It continues through a steep-sided valley past the Tangoio Forest, reaching its narrow floodplain just 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the coast. [6] Some small farms dot the upper part of the floodplain, accessed by a metal road which meets the Napier–Wairoa highway. The river empties into Hawke Bay, the waters joining the Pacific Ocean, just north of the small settlements of Tangoio and Waipātiki Beach, some 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Napier.
The Aropaoanui has been described as one of the cleanest rivers in New Zealand by the Department of Conservation (only phosphorus levels are in the category of worst 25% of rivers and the river has longfin and shortfin eels, koura, inanga, torrent fish, blue gill bully, common bully, redfin bully, banded kōkopu and pātiki), [7] and is fished for many species including trout and whitebait.
Floods in 1938 swept away the bridge on the Napier-Wairoa section of State Highway 2. [8] The area around the river was also badly affected by floods in 2022.
Hawke's Bay is a region of the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name in English derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke.
Hawke Bay, formerly named Hawke's Bay, is a large bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, surrounded by the Hawke's Bay region. It stretches from Māhia Peninsula in the northeast to Cape Kidnappers / Te Kauwae-a-Māui in the southwest, a distance of some 90 kilometres (56 mi).
Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Māhia Peninsula. It is on State Highway 2, 118 kilometres (73 mi) northeast of Napier, and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Gisborne. Wairoa is the nearest town to the Te Urewera protected area and former national park that is accessible from Wairoa via State Highway 38. It is the largest town in the district of Wairoa, and is one of three towns in New Zealand, the others being Kawerau and Opotiki, where Māori outnumber other ethnicities, with 62.29% of the population identifying as Māori.
The Waihou River is located in the northern North Island of New Zealand. Its former name, Thames River, was bestowed by Captain James Cook in November 1769, when he explored 14 mi (23 km) of the river from the mouth. An older Māori name was "Wai Kahou Rounga". A 1947 Geographic Board enquiry ruled that the official name would be Waihou.
Lake Tūtira is a body of water in north-eastern Hawke's Bay in New Zealand.
The Palmerston North–Gisborne Line (PNGL) is a secondary main line railway in the North Island of New Zealand. It branches from the North Island Main Trunk at Palmerston North and runs east through the Manawatū Gorge to Woodville, where it meets the Wairarapa Line, and then proceeds to Hastings and Napier in Hawke's Bay before following the coast north to Gisborne. Construction began in 1872, but the entire line was not completed until 1942. The line crosses the runway of Gisborne Airport, one of the world's only railways to do so since Pakistan's Khyber Pass Railway closed.
Mohaka is a small settlement in the northern Hawke's Bay region of the eastern North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the coast of Hawke Bay, 20 kilometres southwest of Wairoa.
Tutira is a village to the north of Napier and is part of the Hawke's Bay Region in New Zealand's North Island. It is located on State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Napier.
Putorino is a small farming settlement in northern Hawke's Bay, on the eastern side of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on State Highway 2 between Tutira and Mohaka, on the Hastings side of the border between Hastings and Wairoa.
The Waipawa River is a braided river of southern Hawke's Bay, in New Zealand's eastern North Island. It flows from the slopes of 1,687 m (5,535 ft) Te Atuaoparapara in the Ruahine Range southeast past the town of Waipawa before joining the Tukituki River. The river rises at the 1,326 m (4,350 ft) Waipawa Saddle, which is also the source of the Waikamaka River. West of Waipawa, near Ruataniwha, the Mangaonuku Stream is a tributary on the northern bank. The Waipawa's flow is generally greater than that of the Tukituki River, into which it flows.
Waipātiki Beach is a small coastal village in the Hastings District and Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is situated in a little valley at the end of a road that branches off the main road from Napier to Gisborne and that finally, after 11 km, leads to a small sandy beach; first Tangoio Rd, then Waipātiki Road.
The Tapu River is a river of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. It flows west from the Coromandel Range, reaching the Firth of Thames at the settlement of Tapu, approximately halfway between Thames and Coromandel.
The Waikari River is a river in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows generally east from its source at the northern end of the Maungaharuru Range passing the settlement of Putorino to reach Hawke Bay 25 kilometres southwest of Wairoa. The name Waikari comes from the Māori words wai meaning "water" and kari meaning "dig".
Tangoio is a farming locality and beach 23 kilometres north of Napier, 7 kilometres north of Whirinaki and 7 kilometres south-west of Waipatiki Beach in the Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's North Island. The locality is on the flat along Te Ngarue Stream and State Highway 2. It is part of Hastings District. Tangoio has been the official name since it replaced Tongoio in 1930. Near Tangoio Beach is Whakaari Headland, the site of a whaling station in the 1840s and a Maori canoe landing reserve.
The Awaroa River is a short river in the Waikato District of New Zealand's North Island. It flows east from its source in the dunes near Karioitahi Beach and Lake Puketi, then south from Waiuku joining with the Aka Aka Stream before reaching the Waikato River in its tidal reaches close to Motutieke Island.
Maungaharuru Tangitū is a collective of Māori hapū (subtribes) of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, who joined forces for Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations. The hapū are Marangatūhetaua, Ngāi Tauira, Ngāi Te Ruruku ki Tangoio, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kurumōkihi and Ngāti Whakaari. The group's rohe ranges from Bay View in the south to the Waitaha Stream in the north, and from the Maungaharuru Range in the west to the sea in Hawke Bay, that part of the sea being known as Tangitū.
The Mangatangi River, or Mangatangi Stream, originates on the eastern slopes of the Hunua Ranges in New Zealand and flows roughly southwards until it is joined by the Ruaotehuia Stream just north of State Highway 2 between Mangatāwhiri and Maramarua, where it becomes the Maramarua River. Mangatangi can be translated as manga tangi to stream of weeping, or as rippling stream, or babbling brook.
Kotemaori is a village and rural community located in the Wairoa District of the Hawke's Bay Region, in New Zealand's North Island. It is located between Raupunga and Putorino, to the west of Wairoa. The settlement itself lies immediately to the south of the highway.
The Awaroa River is a river in the Ōtorohanga District on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north from its source near Te Koraha through Hauturu to Kawhia Harbour. The river passes through both pasture and indigenous forest. Over half of the river is in forest.
The Tutaekuri River, in the Wairoa District of New Zealand's Hawke's Bay, rises below Gaddum Road, in the Tutaekuri Conservation Area and flows about 24 km (15 mi) east before joining the Waiau River near Raumotu Bridge, about 3 km (1.9 mi) from its confluence with the Wairoa River at Frasertown.