The Southern Alps are 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 Alps" generally refers to the entire range, although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it.
The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for 425 kilometres (264 mi) through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It then drains Taupō at the lake's northeastern edge, creates the Huka Falls, and flows northwest through the Waikato Plains. It empties into the Tasman Sea south of Auckland, at Port Waikato. It gives its name to the Waikato region that surrounds the Waikato Plains. The present course of the river was largely formed about 17,000 years ago. Contributing factors were climate warming, forest being reestablished in the river headwaters and the deepening, rather than widening, of the existing river channel. The channel was gradually eroded as far up river as Piarere, leaving the old Hinuera channel through the Hinuera Gap high and dry. The remains of the old course are seen clearly at Hinuera, where the cliffs mark the ancient river edges. The Waikato's main tributary is the Waipā River, which converges with it at Ngāruawāhia.
The Clutha River is the second longest river in New Zealand and the longest in the South Island. It flows south-southeast 338 kilometres (210 mi) through Central and South Otago from Lake Wānaka in the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south west of Dunedin. It is the highest volume river in New Zealand, and the swiftest, with a catchment of 21,960 square kilometres (8,480 sq mi), discharging a mean flow of 614 cubic metres per second (21,700 cu ft/s). The river is known for its scenery, gold-rush history, and swift turquoise waters. A river conservation group, the Clutha Mata-Au River Parkway Group, is working to establish a regional river parkway, with a trail, along the entire river corridor.
The Lachlan River is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West, and Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia.
Mount Aspiring / Tititea is New Zealand's 23rd-highest mountain. It is the country's highest outside the Aoraki / Mount Cook region.
The Waimakariri River is one of the largest rivers in Canterbury, on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for 151 kilometres (94 mi) in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean.
The Taramakau River is a river of the West Coast Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana near Harper Pass, 80 kilometres (50 mi) due east of Hokitika, and runs westward for 75 kilometres (47 mi) into the Tasman Sea 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Greymouth.
The Clarence River is a major river which flows through the Kaikōura Ranges in the northeast of New Zealand's South Island. At roughly 209 kilometres (130 mi) long, it is the longest river in Canterbury and the eighth longest in New Zealand.
Haupapa / Tasman Glacier is the largest glacier in New Zealand, and one of several large glaciers which flow south and east towards the Mackenzie Basin from the Southern Alps in New Zealand's South Island.
The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean 30 kilometres (19 mi) northeast of Timaru. The river has a catchment area of 1,773 square kilometres (685 sq mi), and a mean annual flow of 95 cubic metres per second (3,400 cu ft/s) at Klondyke.
The Bettne River is a river of South Westland, New Zealand. A tributary of the Waiatoto River, it rises in the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana and flows north-westward to join that river 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of the Bonar Flats.
The Bonar River is a short river of New Zealand. It is in Mount Aspiring National Park and flows west for 5 kilometres (3 mi) before joining the Waiatoto River. Its source is on the slopes of Mount Taurus, 15 kilometres (9 mi) northeast of Mount Aspiring / Tititea.
The Cropp River is a river of New Zealand. It flows east for 10 kilometres (6 mi) before joining the Whitcombe River, a tributary of the Hokitika River.
The Cust River is a river in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. It flows east across the upper Canterbury Plains from its source north of the town of Oxford, New Zealand, flowing into the Cam River / Ruataniwha close to the town of Rangiora. The small town of Cust lies on the banks of the river. The lower part of the river, to the south-west of Rangiora, is diverted into a channel and called the "Main Drain". The channel was built in 1862 to drain the swampy land between Rangiora and the Waimakariri River, and when it was enlarged in 1868 it accidentally captured the Cust.
The Douglas River, formerly known as the Twain, is a river of the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Its source is high in the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, five kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Mount Sefton, and its upper reaches are fed by water from the Douglas Glacier. It flows west for 18 kilometres (11 mi), joined by runoff from the Horace Walker Glacier, before joining the waters of the Karangarua River. The Douglas River's entire course is within Westland Tai Poutini National Park. The river and glacier are named after Charles Edward Douglas, a 19th-century explorer and mountaineer.
The Waiatoto River is a river of the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Formed from several small rivers which are fed by glaciers surrounding Mount Aspiring, it flows north along a valley flanked in the west by the Haast Range before turning northwest to reach the Tasman Sea 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Haast. Much of the river's length is within Mount Aspiring National Park.
The Esk River of Hawke's Bay, in the eastern North Island of New Zealand, one of two rivers of that name in the country, is one of Hawke's Bay's major rivers. It flows south from the slopes of Taraponui in the Maungaharuru Range before turning east to reach Hawke Bay 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of Napier. State Highway 5 follows the lower course of the river for several kilometres close to the settlement of Eskdale. The river is probably named after the Esk River in southern Scotland and north-west England.
The Donald River is a short tributary of the Waiatoto River within Mount Aspiring National Park. It flows west for 6 kilometres (4 mi) from the Donald Glacier on the western slopes of Mount Pollux.
La Perouse, originally called Mount Stokes, is a mountain in New Zealand's Southern Alps, rising to a height of 3,078 metres (10,098 ft).
Taiporoporo / Charles Sound is a fiord of the South Island of New Zealand. It is one of the fiords that form the coast of Fiordland.
