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Haast River

River of New Zealand

Summary

River of New Zealand

Field	Value
name	Haast River
native_name	Awarua
name_etymology	Named after Julius von Haast
image	Roaring Billy Falls MRD 05.jpg
image_caption	Haast River near Roaring Billy Falls
map
map_caption	Route of the Haast River
pushpin_map	New Zealand South Island#New Zealand
pushpin_map_size	270px
pushpin_map_caption	Mouth of the Haast River
source1	Haast Pass
source1_coordinates
mouth_location	Tasman Sea
mouth_coordinates
subdivision_type1	Country
subdivision_name1	New Zealand
subdivision_type2	Region
subdivision_name2	West Coast
subdivision_type3	District
subdivision_name3	Westland
length	100 km
progression	Haast River → Tasman Sea
tributaries_left	Cross Creek, Wilson Creek, Robinson Creek, Pyke Creek, Cutter Creek, Pipson Creek, Ford Creek, The Trickle, Thunder Creek, Hutchinson Creek, Burke River, Mather Creek, Muir Creek, Briar Creek, Moa Creek, Big Creek, Solitude Stream, Pivot Creek, Chelsea Creek, Evans Creek, Serpentine Creek, Douglas Creek, Macpherson Creek, Gout Creek, Mossy Creek, Orman Creek, Depot Creek, Cache Creek, Chink Creek, Roaring Swine Creek, Dancing Creek, Joes Creek, Glitter Burn, Harris Creek, Myrtle Creek, Greenstone Creek, Snapshot Creek, Grassy Creek, Crikey Creek
tributaries_right	Zig Zag Creek, Fantail Creek, Shortcut Creek, Wills River, Patsy Creek, Surly Creek, Civil Creek, Landsborough River, Colin Creek, Debris Torrent, Cuttance Creek, The Roaring Billy, Neilson Creek, Brag Creek, Crow Creek, Cushat Creek, Thomas River, Gliding Creek, Jamieson Creek, Omimimi Creek
bridges	Gates of Haast Bridge, Haast Rive Bridge

The Haast River / Awarua is a river on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The Māori name for the river is Awarua. It drains the western watershed of the Haast Pass. The Haast River is 100 km in length, and enters the Tasman Sea near Haast township. The river's main tributary is the Landsborough River.

Toponomy

Julius von Haast named the river after himself, "directed, so he said, by his Provincial Superintendent". Von Haast explored a route from Otago to the West Coast that was long known to Māori; his four companions were William Young (a surveyor), Charles Håring (a retired sailor), William Francis Warner (later the proprietor of Warner's Hotel), and Robert Langley Holmes (later the Canterbury provincial meteorologist). They set out on 22 January 1863 and stood in the surf on 20 February.

Geography

The 737m single-lane bridge over the Haast River

The river is set within the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The majority of the surrounding land is publicly owned and administered by the Department of Conservation. The grassy flats on the lower reaches are grazed by cattle owned by the local farmers. Tourism operators offer jetboat tours on the river.

follows virtually the complete length of the river. From near Haast Pass, the state highway is located on the river's true left. It switches to the true right at the Gates of Haast Bridge. At Pleasant Flat, where the valley widens out, the state highway crosses back to the true left. The final bridge is near the coast, just after the turnoff to the Haast township. At 737 m it is the longest one-lane road bridge in New Zealand, and the 7th longest New Zealand bridge overall.

The Haast plain

Haast coastline - showing parallel lines of dunes and swales

The Haast plain extends 50 km from Ship Creek to Jackson Bay / Okahu. The plain has an unusual landform, with long parallel lines of low hills with narrow swales in between. In some places, the plain is 10 km wide, with six rows of dunes and swales. The landform results from the combined effects of sediment carried to the coast by six large rivers, longshore drift and periodic seismic uplifts. The rivers discharging into the Tasman sea in this region of coastline drain from large catchment areas in the Southern Alps, where there is high rainfall and the mountains have high rates of erosion. The suspended sediment yield of the Arawhata River has been reported as 7.18 Mt/yr, and the Haast River as 5.93 Mt/yr. The total estimated suspended sediment yield from rivers in South Westland is over 50 Mt/yr. Longshore drift leads to much of this sediment being deposited along the Haast coastline, forming dunes. The Alpine Fault runs along the inland edge of the plain, and the entire area is subject to tectonic uplift during major seismic events. Following a major uplift, existing dunes are no longer exposed to the action of the sea, and new dunes begin to form. This creates a longitudinal pattern of dunes with low-lying wetlands in between. The coastal plain is approximately 6,000 years old. The dunes close to the current shoreline have little vegetation, but the older dunes further inland are forested with tall podocarps. The swales contain wetland lakes, pakihi and kahikatea swamp forests.

References

(1966). "The Haast is in South Westland". AH & AW Reed.
Holm, Janet. (2005). "Caught mapping: the life and times of New Zealand's early surveyors". Hazard Press.
"NZ Topo Map".
"Transit New Zealand Frequently Asked Questions".
{{cite Q. Q98762244
{{cite Q. Q113624133

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

westland-district rivers-of-the-west-coast-region rivers-of-mount-aspiring-national-park

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