Taieri River
 |
The Taieri River system |
The
Taieri River is the fourth-longest river in
New Zealand, and is located in
Otago in the country's
South Island. Rising in the Lammerlaw ranges, it initially flows north, then east around the Rock and Pillar range before turning southeast, reaching the sea 30 km south of
Dunedin.
The upper reaches of the Taieri meander in a series of convoluted loops across a floodplain near
Paerau before running through two small
hydroelectric power stations before
Patearoa and the
Maniototo. The river then arcs through almost 180 degrees, entering a broad glacial valley known as the
Strath-Taieri, surrounded by rugged hill ranges. The river itself has cut a steep-sided gorge — the
Taieri Gorge. The gorge is well known for the
Taieri Gorge Railway, which follows a route into
Central Otago up through the gorge. In its lower reaches, there is a broad floodplain (the
Taieri Plains) containing much of
Otago's most fertile farmland, before it flows through the lower Taieri Gorge to the
Pacific Ocean at
Taieri Mouth.
Taieri Island lies in the Pacific Ocean several hundred metres from the mouth of the river.
The length of the river is 200 km, of which the last 20 km are navigable. Towns along the river include
Middlemarch,
Outram,
Mosgiel,
Henley and Taieri Mouth. Its major tributary is the
Waipori River, which meets the Taieri near Henley on the Taieri Plains.
The name Taieri is thought to come from the
Maori word
taiari meaning "spring tide".
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Waipiata
