Haast River

Haast River
Haast River
	Haast River near Roaring Billy Falls
Location
Country	New Zealand
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana
Mouth
• location	Tasman Sea
Length	100 km (62 mi)

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 kilometres (62 mi) in length, and enters the Tasman Sea near Haast township. The river's main tributary is the Landsborough River.

Toponomy[edit]

Julius von Haast named the river after himself, "directed, so he said, by his Provincial Superintendent".^[1] 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.^[2]

Geography[edit]

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.

State Highway 6 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.^[3] The final bridge is near the coast, just after the turnoff to the Haast township. At 737 metres (2,418 ft) it is the longest one-lane road bridge in New Zealand, and the 7th longest New Zealand bridge overall.^[4]

The Haast plain[edit]

The Haast plain extends 50 km (31 mi) 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 (6.2 mi) 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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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 kahikitea swamp forests.^[5]

References[edit]

^ Pascoe, John Dobree (1966). The Haast is in South Westland (1 ed.). Wellington: AH & AW Reed.
^ Holm, Janet (2005). Caught mapping: the life and times of New Zealand's early surveyors. Christchurch: Hazard Press. pp. 165–169. OCLC 636380050.
^ "NZ Topo Map". topomap.co.nz. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
^ "Transit New Zealand Frequently Asked Questions". Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
^ ^a ^b Kerry-Jayne Wilson (2017). West Coast Walking: A naturalist's guide (2nd ed.). Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-42-5. OL 29806566M. Wikidata Q98762244.
^ D. Murray Hicks; Ude Shankar; Alistair I. McKerchar; Les Basher; Murray Jessen; Ian Lynn; Mike Page (2011). "Suspended sediment yields from New Zealand rivers" (PDF). Journal of Hydrology (New Zealand). 50 (1): 81–142. ISSN 0022-1708. Wikidata Q113624133.

External links[edit]

Media related to Haast River at Wikimedia Commons

43°50′S 169°02′E / 43.833°S 169.033°E / -43.833; 169.033

[Pascoe-1] Pascoe, John Dobree (1966). The Haast is in South Westland (1 ed.). Wellington: AH & AW Reed.

[2] Holm, Janet (2005). Caught mapping: the life and times of New Zealand's early surveyors. Christchurch: Hazard Press. pp. 165–169. OCLC 636380050.

[3] "NZ Topo Map". topomap.co.nz. Retrieved 5 January 2020.

[4] "Transit New Zealand Frequently Asked Questions". Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.

[Wilson-5] Kerry-Jayne Wilson (2017). West Coast Walking: A naturalist's guide (2nd ed.). Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-42-5. OL 29806566M. Wikidata Q98762244.

[6] D. Murray Hicks; Ude Shankar; Alistair I. McKerchar; Les Basher; Murray Jessen; Ian Lynn; Mike Page (2011). "Suspended sediment yields from New Zealand rivers" (PDF). Journal of Hydrology (New Zealand). 50 (1): 81–142. ISSN 0022-1708. Wikidata Q113624133.

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v t e Landforms of Westland District, New Zealand
Alpine passes	Arthur's Pass Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka Copland Pass Haast Pass
Bays	Bruce Bay Jackson Bay
Canyons, gorges and waterfalls	Fantail Falls Gates of Haast Hokitika Gorge Otira Gorge Roaring Billy Falls Thunder Creek Falls
Glaciers	Agassiz Glacier Douglas Glacier Fox Glacier Franz Josef Glacier Garden of Eden Ice Plateau Olivine Ice Plateau Volta Glacier
Headlands	Abut Head Awarua Point Gillespies Point Knights Point
Islands	Open Bay Islands
Lakes and lagoons	Abel Lake Alpine Lake / Ata Puai Lake Ellery Lake Gault Lake Ianthe Lake Kaniere Lake Mahinapua Lake Mapourika Lake Matheson Lake Moeraki Ōkārito Lagoon Lake Paringa Saltwater Lagoon Lake Wahapo
Mountain ranges	Butler Range Southern Alps
Mountains	Mount Adams Aoraki / Mount Cook Mount Aspiring / Tititea Mount Dampier Mount Graham Mount Haast Mount Hopkins La Perouse Lendenfeld Peak Mount Rolleston Mount Sefton Silberhorn Mount Tasman Mount Vancouver Mount Whitcombe
River flats	Pleasant Flat
Rivers	Adams River Arahura River Arawhata River Balfour River Barlow River Barn River Bettne River Big Wainihinihi River Burke River Butler River Callery River Cascade River Clarke River Clearwater River Cook River / Weheka Copland River Cropp River Deception River Donald River Douglas River Drake River Duncan River Edison River Fork River Fox River Gorge River Gunn River Haast River Hacket River Hall River Hapuka River Harman River Hinatua River Hokitika River Hope River Jackson River Jerry River Kaniere River Karangarua River Kokatahi River Lambert River Landsborough River Lord River Macfarlane River Mahitahi River Jacobs River Manakaiaua River Maori River Martyr River Mikonui River Moeraki River Morse River Mueller River Mungo River Ngatau River North Barlow River Ohinemaka River Ōhinetamatea River Ōkārito River Okuru River Ōmoeroa River Oneone River Otehake River Ōtira River Ōtoko River Paringa River Perth River Poerua River Rolleston River Rotokino River Ruera River Ship Creek Smoothwater River Smyth River Stafford River Strauchon River Styx River Taipo River Taramakau River Te Rahotaiepa River Toaroha River Tōtara River Totarakaitorea River Troyte River Tuke River Turnbull River Waiatoto River Waiho River Waikūkūpa River Waipara River Waita River Waitaha River Waitangitāhuna River Waitangiroto River Wanganui River Whakaikai River Whakapohai River Whataroa River Whitcombe River Wilkinson River Willberg River Williamson River Wills River

Toponomy[edit]

Geography[edit]

The Haast plain[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]