Awarau River
A 6 km (3.7 mi) forestry road runs north of the river from SH69 to Larrys Creek Track, which runs a further 2.4 km (1.5 mi) to the site of the Caledonian Gold Mine. The mine operated from 1874 to 1910, with shafts up to 285 ft (87 m) deep. It is the most northerly in the Reefton goldfield, in albite-epidote hornfels facies, which are less than 370 million years old. Remnants of a stamping battery and a Robey portable steam engine are at the mine site. Colinton was formed in 1874 as the township for the mine (and the river was sometimes called Colin River). By 1878 it had a population of 44, but was gone by 1901. Just upstream is a deep, rocky gorge.
The only bridges over the river are the Stillwater–Ngākawau railway and SH69. Railway bridge 74 was a 325 ft (99 m) road-rail bridge of 7 spans, built in 1905 for £2,915. A bridge was planned at Colinton in 1880, but never built.
Nothofagus fusca (red beech, or tawhai raunui) forests grow to about the 350 m (1,150 ft) contour, with Nothofagus menziesii (silver beech, tawhai, or tahina) up to the tree line at about 1,300 m (4,300 ft). Tūī, Anthornis melanura (korimako, makomako, kōmako, or bellbird), Petroica macrocephala (ngirungiru, or tomtit) and Petroica australis (Kakaruwai, or South Island robin) live in the bush.
References
- ^ "Larry's Creek". nzfishing.com. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ "Place name detail: Awarau or Larry River". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
- ^ Egarr, C.D.; Egarr, J. H. (1981). "New Zealand recreational river survey : an investigation into the recreational potential of New Zealand's inland waterways" (PDF). Water & Soil Miscellaneous Publication. 15: 92 – via NIWA.
- ^ "Tracks Of The Reefton Area PRESS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 June 1969. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "1:63360 map Sheet: NN61". www.mapspast.org.nz. 1901. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "LAKE COUNTY PRESS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 May 1874. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "Reefton Walks" (PDF). DoC. November 2021.
- ^ "Caledonian Mine, Reefton, Buller District, West Coast Region, New Zealand". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ Bryce A. Robinson & James M. Scott (November 2018). "Late Devonian contact metamorphism and a possible upper age to gold mineralisation in the northernmost portion of the Reefton Goldfield".
- ^ "Larrys Creek Track, Reefton". coastingnz. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "GREY RIVER ARGUS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 January 1874. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "Results of a Census of the Colony of New Zealand for the night of the 3rd March 1878".
- ^ Henderson, J. (John); New Zealand. Geological Survey Branch (1917). The geology and mineral resources of the Reefton subdivision : Westport and North Westland divisions. University of Connecticut Libraries. Wellington, [N.Z.] : by authority Marcus F. Marks, Govt. Printer.
- ^ "Awarau or Larry River, West Coast". NZ Topo Map. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
- ^ "THE OPENING OF THE CRONADUN RAILWAY SECTION. INANGAHUA TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 May 1908. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ "INANGAHUA COUNTY COUNCIL. INANGAHUA TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 July 1880. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "Outdoor recreation on the West Coast: a conservation plan" (PDF). publicaccess.nz. 1977. p. 82.
- ^ Tracy Mezger (24 July 2015). "Reefton Final Project".
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42°00′S 171°54′E / 42.000°S 171.900°E