Whau River
The Whau River is an estuarial arm of the southwestern Waitemata Harbour (rather than a river) within the Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It flows north for 5.7 kilometres from its origin at the confluence of the Avondale Stream and Whau Stream[1] to its mouth between the Te Atatu peninsula and the long, thin Rosebank Peninsula in Avondale. It is 800 metres at its widest and 400 metres wide at its mouth.[1]
The estuary extends past the suburbs of Glendene and Kelston, between Auckland City to the east and Waitakere City to the west. It has one small estuarial tributary arm, the Wairau Creek in the southwest. The tide flows up the Wairau Creek as far as Sabulite Road in Kelston, and up the Rewarewa Creek to Clark Street and Wolverton Road in New Lynn.[1]
The area around the mouth of the estuary is protected as the Motu Manawa (Pollen Island) Marine Reserve. Pollen Island (Motu Manawa in Maori) and the nearby small Traherne Island, are located at the northern tip of the peninsula. Traherne Island is connected to the mainland by causeways and bridges that are part of State Highway 16.
The Whau River is named after a native tree, the whau (Entelea arborescens).[1]
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[edit] History
In earlier times, Maori used the Whau for travel between the Waitemata Harbour (on the Pacific east coast) and the Manukau Harbour (on the Tasman west coast). They paddled canoes up the Whau and the Avondale Stream and then carried the canoes over a short stretch of land to Green Bay on the Manukau. This is remembered in the name for Portage Road, which runs alongside the Avondale Stream,[1] and it is known that seasonal Maori settlements existed at the mouth of the river.[2] For many years after European settlement, there was talk of making a canal between the Whau and the Manukau.[1]
European settlers used the Whau for marine transport and by 1865 there were five public wharves at New Lynn. Boats carried the products of local industries including brickworks, a leather tannery, a gelatine and glue factory and firewood cutting. The last commercial vessel to use the Whau was a flat-bottomed scow the Rahiri, which carried bricks and manuka firewood from the area until 1948. For nearly a hundred years, factories such as the tannery and an abbatoir discharged wastes directly into the Whau.[1]
Friends of the Whau Inc. was formed in 1999 to restore the ecology of the Whau through revegetation and reduction of pollution.[1]
The West End Rowing Club has been based on the Whau since 2001.
[edit] Geography
The geology of the area is mainly composed of marine and riverine sediment.[2] The stream's intertidal banks are commonly settled by mangroves and exotic weed species.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mackay, Jo (2001). The Whau: Our Streams, Our River, Our Backyards. Waitakere City Council. http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/abtcit/ei/pdfs/environment/thewhau.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ a b c Waterview Connection - Assessment of Environmental Effects: Part C. New Zealand Transport Agency. August 2010. pp. 8.9-8.10.
