39-684: The Manawatū Gorge ( Māori : Te Āpiti ) is a steep-sided gorge formed by the Manawatū River in the North Island of New Zealand . At 6 km (3.7 mi) long, the Manawatū Gorge divides the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges , linking the Manawatū and Tararua Districts. It lies to the northeast of Palmerston North . Its western end is near the small town of Ashhurst and its eastern end
78-614: A dawn ceremony on 11 April 2014. The artwork on the sculpture features hammerhead shark patterns and depicts elements of the story of Whatonga's sea voyage, as well as emblems of all of the Manawatu Gorge biodiversity project stakeholders. Up to date information on all walking and biking tracks is available on the Te Āpiti website . 40°19′06″S 175°47′53″E / 40.3184°S 175.7980°E / -40.3184; 175.7980 Manawat%C5%AB River The Manawatū River
117-553: A descendant of Haunui-a-paparangi. Haupipi-a-Nanaia or Hau, travelled down the west coast in pursuit of his wife Wairaka, who had eloped. When Hau reached what is now known as the Manawatū River, he is said to have stopped and clutched his chest, horrified at the prospect of crossing so mighty an expanse of water. Therefore the river's name comes from the Māori words manawa (heart) and tū (stand still). In this context, when said together,
156-545: A mountain range. The river has formed a "water gap" across the mountains because it is older than the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges . Most rivers arise from an already-existing range of mountains or hills, but beginning about 3 million years ago the central North Island mountain ranges began to uplift across the Manawatū's current course. Because it drained a large catchment, the river had sufficient flow to keep pace with and erode
195-710: Is a major river of the lower North Island of New Zealand. The river flows from the Ruahine Ranges , through both the Manawatū Gorge and the city of Palmerston North , and across the Manawatū Plains to the Tasman Sea at Foxton . The river, along with the more northern Whanganui River , gives its name to the Manawatū-Whanganui region. The name of the river was given by the tohunga Haupipi-a-Nanaia,
234-685: Is close to the town of Woodville . As one of the few links between the eastern and western North Island, the gorge is an important transport link, with the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line passing through the gorge, as well as State Highway 3 ; the road has been closed since 2017. Recreationally, the gorge is part of the Manawatū Gorge Scenic Reserve, with various walking tracks through the surrounding native bush. Like many important geographic features in New Zealand,
273-460: Is located just a few kilometres out of Woodville on the north side of the gorge. In 2011 the gorge was closed after several massive landslips. It did not reopen until August 2012, and parts of the highway were still limited to one lane. In October 2012 it was temporarily closed so contractors could destroy large rocks that posed a threat to traffic. Restoration was completed in November 2012. SH3
312-445: Is mainly used by goods trains; there are currently no scheduled passenger rail services through the gorge. Occasional railway excursions, typically with steam trains, also make use of the scenic Manawatu Gorge Railway line with its two tunnels and several small bridges. The Old Gorge Cemetery lies on the north side of the Manawatu Gorge. Public access is available, but the cemetery was closed many years ago to further burials. The road
351-625: Is mud and silty sand. In its meandering and frequent shifting of course it has created oxbow lakes , lagoons , and swamps . Sediment deposited along its course has created levees, higher than the surrounding plain; when the river is in flood it overflows these and creates wetlands. The Manawatū reaches the Tasman Sea at Foxton Beach , on the west coast of the North Island, creating the Manawatu Estuary . Major tributaries of
390-469: Is reduced and the river cuts down into the terrace, forming a gorge. This cycle has created four distinct terraces between the Manawatū Gorge and Palmerston North. The Manawatū Plain was seabed 5 to 6 million years ago, and as it was raised above water by the action of the Australian and Pacific Plates it buckled, forming five long and low ridges (or anticlines ) parallel to the mountains, which impede
429-481: Is the Māori name for the gorge, which is usually translated to mean 'the narrowing', or 'the narrow passage'. The gorge was also sometimes given the name Te Au-rere-a-te-tonga . The Manawatu Gorge is significant because, unlike most gorges, the Manawatu River is a water gap , that is it runs directly through the surrounding ranges from one side to the other. This was caused by the ranges moving upwards at
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#1732772542994468-533: The Manawatū Gorge , between the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges . Beyond the gorge it joins with the Pohangina River at Ashhurst and turns south-west, flowing through the city of Palmerston North . At this stage the river is still flowing swiftly and carrying gravel from the mountains. After Opiki , it slows and has a lower gradient, meandering over the Manawatu Plains ; its bed at this point
507-605: The Ministry for the Environment ranked 76 New Zealand sites for water clarity and E. coli levels. Using those measures, they found only four other New Zealand rivers rate worse than the Manawatū (the Waitara , Whanganui , Waipā and Rangitīkei ). NZ Transport Agency NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi ( NZTA ) is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including
546-632: The National-led coalition government following the 2023 New Zealand general election . In December 2023, the New Zealand Minister of Transport Simeon Brown ordered that the agency was to give primacy to its English name. In mid-December 2023, Transport Minister Brown ordered the NZTA to halt halt funding and work on various local council projects to promote cycling, walking and public transportation. Notable projects affected by
585-600: The Government's transportation policy change included the " Let's Get Wellington Moving " programme. On 11 March 2024, Simon Bridges was appointed a member and chairperson of the NZTA board for a three-year term. On 15 May, RNZ reported that NZTA had paid consultant PwC to design two new vehicle-spotting technologies at a cost of NZ$ 130 million only to abandon the project after the technologies were found not to work. On 16 May 2024, NZTA confirmed that it would slash over 120 jobs as part of government cutbacks. 109 of
624-485: The Manawatu Gorge Track, runs parallel to the gorge on the south side through native bush . The walking track passes several lookout points, one of which is above the site of the 2015 landslide, aptly called the "Big Slip Lookout". The majority of the track leads through native bush, with the lookouts offering views overlooking the gorge and towards the Te Āpiti Wind Farm continuing on the hills north of
663-808: The Manawatū River. In 2009, the Cawthron Institute found that the river had the highest gross primary production (GPP) compared to 300 rivers and streams in the Western world. High GPP rates are an indication of poor ecological health and can lead to various environmental issues . In 2011, the Horizons Regional Council laid blame with the Palmerston North City Council for "considerable" and "sustained" breaches of one of its discharge consents, and some degree of non-compliance with two others. A report by
702-695: The Tokomaru River, which covered 22000 acres; and Taonui Swamp on the north side of the river. The main vegetation in the swamps was harakeke and raupō : harakeke in the drier parts, raupō in the wetter. The Manawatū river mouth and estuary was listed under the Ramsar Convention as a Wetland of International Importance in 2005. The Manawatū River flooded in February 2004, displacing over 3000 people (primarily from Marton and Feilding ) and damaging over 1000 Manawatū farms. The cost of
741-663: The affected roles came from the former Clean Car Discount , Climate Emergency Response Fund, and Let's Get Wellington Moving projects, which had been cancelled by the National-led coalition government. In early May 2024, NZTA also announced it would cut another 12 roles from its Customer and Services and Digital teams to meet the Government's 7.5% cost cutting target. NZTA stores registration , licensing and warrant of fitness details for any road-registered vehicle within New Zealand, including cars, motorbikes, trailers, trucks and earthmoving or agricultural machinery. Any member of
780-521: The agency had been "going through a massive change process", with its compliance work in the issuing of vehicle Warrant of Fitnesses under review. Mark Ratcliffe, former head of telco Chorus , was appointed interim chief executive. Nicole Rosie, former CE of WorkSafe New Zealand , replaced him as chief executive mid-February 2020. On 26 April 2019, chairman Michael Stiassny announced his resignation. On 11 June 2019, Brian Roche commenced his second term as chairman of NZTA; Roche had previously been
819-469: The creation and exploration of Manawatū Gorge is an embedded part of traditional Māori history. According to tradition, the first Māori to discover the gorge was Whātonga, an explorer from the Kurahaupō canoe, who found the gorge in about the 12th century. Europeans began to traverse the Manawatū Gorge around the 1840s; in 1842 Bishop George Augustus Selwyn and Chief Justice William Martin passed through
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#1732772542994858-470: The flood in terms of insurance payouts was NZ$ 122 million. Further damage was prevented by the opening of the Moutoa floodgates , which intercept the river between Foxton and Shannon . In 2018 a case study on water quality in the Manawatū-Whanganui region was jointly commissioned by Horizons Regional Council and the Ministry for the Environment , the study was conducted by Land Water People (LWP) and
897-446: The flow of the Manawatū, Rangitikei , and Oroua Rivers, forcing them to flow southwest rather than directly into the Tasman Sea. At the time of human arrival, the Manawatū Plains were covered with forest. Towards the foothills and the Manawatū Gorge grew black beech , turning into tawa forest at lower altitudes. Along the plains and terraces the forest was mixed podocarp and tōtara , changing to mixed tawa, tītoki , and māhoe in
936-510: The gorge to reach the Wairarapa. The Manawatū Gorge takes its name from the river which cuts through it, the Manawatū River. The river's name, which means 'heart standing still', is derived from the words manawa , meaning heart, and tū , meaning coming to a halt. This comes from traditional Māori history, in which it is said that Haunui-a-nanaia uttered the phrase when he caught sight of the river in his search for his wife Wairaka. Te Āpiti
975-565: The gorge. Also along the track, in the midst of native bush, stands the 6 metres (20 ft) tall metal sculpture of Whatonga , one of three recognised Māori chiefs on board the Kurahaupo Waka , which journeyed across the ocean to New Zealand. The statue was funded by the Manawatu Gorge Biodiversity stakeholder group and is made of steel. It was lowered to its location in the bush by helicopter, and blessed at
1014-572: The inaugural chairman from 2008. In August 2019, Waka Kotahi changed the order of its name to emphasize its Māori language name "Waka Kotahi." The logo was also changed to reflect this change of order. Kane Patena was appointed the first Director of Land Transport for Waka Kotahi from 1 April 2021. In early November 2023, Waka Kotahi suspended its NZ$ 305 million Transport Choices Programme where local councils would receive funding to encourage walking, cycling and public transportation. Waka Kotahi suspended this programme amidst coalition talks to form
1053-703: The interpretation is ‘heart standing still’ to represent how Hau felt when he first saw the river. However cross he did, and a few kilometres south of Paekākāriki, Hau overtook the fugitives and changed Wairaka into a rock. The Manawatū River has its headwaters northwest of Norsewood in the Tararua District , on the eastern slopes of the Ruahine Range on the North Island of New Zealand. It flows initially eastward before turning south-west near Ormondville , flowing 40 kilometres (25 mi) before turning north-west near Woodville . At this point it enters
1092-558: The responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, and administering the New Zealand state highway network . Waka Kotahi means 'one vessel' and is intended to convey the concept of "travelling together as one". The agency was established on 1 August 2008 by the Land Transport Management Amendment Act 2008 , merging Transit New Zealand with Land Transport New Zealand . NZTA's board
1131-663: The results were reviewed by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and StatsNZ . Results showed that water quality for sediment and E. coli had improved over the previous seven to ten years in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. The report found strong statistical evidence of a connection between regional scale water quality improvements and local scale interventions. In 2006 Fonterra were criticised for an application to discharge 8,500 cubic metres (300,000 cu ft) of wastewater into
1170-439: The rising mountains, eventually forming the Manawatū Gorge; other rivers were unable to and were diverted into the Manawatū instead. After exiting the Manawatū Gorge, the river carries rock and sediment down from the mountains. During glacial times, with the prevalence of ice, snow, and bare mountains, this erosion increases and forms a stony elevated terrace. During an interglacial, while the mountains are forested, gravel outwash
1209-548: The river include the Makakahi , Mangahao , Pohangina and Oroua Rivers . The Manawatū's total length is 180 kilometres (110 mi), making it only the 12th-longest in the country, but at 102 cubic metres per second (3,600 cu ft/s) it is one of New Zealand's greatest rivers in terms of flow, and second only to the Waikato River among North Island rivers. The river is crossed by 18 road bridges (not including
Manawatū Gorge - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-593: The road. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency decided to close the Gorge route permanently. The authority investigated long-term options to bypass or replace the gorge route, with their final list having four options. The chosen new route option, delayed from December 2017 and announced in March 2018, will be above the Gorge, but below the Saddle Road, and will bypass Ashurst. A 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) tramping track ,
1287-478: The same time as the gorge was eroded by the river, instead of the more usual erosion of an already existing range. The Manawatu River is the only river in New Zealand that starts its journey in the Tararua District on one side of the main divide, and finishes it on the other side near Foxton in the Tasman Sea. The road through the Manawatu Gorge, State Highway 3 , is on the south side of the river, and
1326-468: The sand dunes. Across the flood plain of the Manawatū and on the low-lying land bordering the river, the predominant vegetation was semi-swamp forest, mostly kahikatea and pukatea . Three major swamps bordered the Manawatū: Moutoa Swamp north of the river, towards the mouth, known as the "Great Swamp" in the 19th century; Makerua Swamp further inland, to the south of the Manawatū and north of
1365-419: The south, and SH5 between Taupo and Napier 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of the Manawatu Gorge. The road through the Manawatu Gorge had a history of sometimes being closed by slips , especially following inclement weather. A single track rail connection was established on the northern side of the gorge; it was completed in 1891 and is now part of the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line . The rail connection
1404-488: The under-construction Parahaki Island Bridge), 3 rail bridges and He Ara Kotahi walk/cycleway. The lowest and longest, Whirokino Trestle and Manawatū River Bridge, carry SH1 1.1 km (0.68 mi) over the Moutoa Floodway and 180 m (590 ft) over the river. It replaced the 1938 and 1942 bridges in February 2020, at a cost of $ 70m. The Manawatū is unique among New Zealand rivers in that it crosses
1443-530: Was blocked again for one month by further slips after severe weather on 9 April 2015. In April 2017, the Manawatu Gorge was closed again due to a large slip. Contractors were pulled out of clearing the slip in July 2017 due to ongoing geological movement in the hill, closing the road indefinitely. A further slip in July 2017 at the Ashhurst end of the Manawatu Gorge left an additional 10,000 cubic metres of rock on
1482-532: Was completed in 1872. It was the primary link between the two sides of the lower North Island, before being abandoned in 2017 due to the number of slips. Other than Saddle Road and the Pahiatua Track, both narrow winding local roads a few kilometers north and south of the Manawatu Gorge, the gorge was the only east-west road connection between the Akatarawa Valley , 100 kilometres (62 mi) to
1521-668: Was criticised by the National Party -led opposition in July 2008 as being "stacked" with political appointees of the Labour Party -led government. A National Party-led government was formed after 2008 New Zealand general election , and a number of board members were reappointed or replaced. In January 2019, three members of the board of directors resigned, about six weeks after the resignation of chief executive Fergus Gammie. They were Adrienne Young-Cooper, Chris Ellis and Fran Wilde . Minister of Transport Phil Twyford said
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