| Awarau River | |
|---|---|
 Awarau River railway bridge | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Victoria Range |
| • coordinates | 44°28′26″S 168°27′28″E / 44.4739241°S 168.457911°E |
| • elevation | 1,639 m (5,377 ft) |
| Mouth | Inangahua River |
• elevation | 105 m (344 ft) |
| Length | 27 km (17 mi) |
The Awarau River, usually known as Larry's Creek is located within the South Island of New Zealand.[1] The river is about 27 kilometres (17 mi) long[2] and runs northwest from its headwaters in the Victoria Range to its confluence with the Inangahua River north of Reefton.[3] It also drains part of the Brunner Range and there was a track along that range linking to Lyell[4] by 1901,[5] though none existed in 1874.[6] A track also ran south over Kirwan Hill to the Montgomerie River.[5]
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.[7] The mine operated from 1874 to 1910, with shafts up to 285 ft (87 m) deep.[8] It is the most northerly in the Reefton goldfield, in albite-epidote hornfels facies, which are less than 370 million years old.[9] Remnants of a stamping battery and a Robey portable steam engine are at the mine site.[10] Colinton was formed in 1874[11] as the township for the mine (and the river was sometimes called Colin River). By 1878 it had a population of 44,[12] but was gone by 1901. Just upstream is a deep, rocky gorge.[13]
The only bridges over the river are the Stillwater–Ngākawau railway and SH69.[14] Railway bridge 74 was a 325 ft (99 m) road-rail bridge of 7 spans, built in 1905 for £2,915.[15] A bridge was planned at Colinton in 1880, but never built.[16]
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).[17] 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.[18]