Driving from Wallacetown to Riverton in Southland New Zealand

Categories: Southland Region

Tags: 4k, dashcam, driving, new zealand, riverton, road trip, scenic, scenic drive, southland, wallacetown

Added: 2 years ago

Driving from Wallacetown to Riverton - Road trip along SH99 in the Southland Region of New Zealand's South Island.

Riverton (Aparima) is the oldest European settlement in Southland. It is also one of the oldest settlements for Europeans in New Zealand. The main streets of Riverton are dotted with local artists’ studios and many cafes, vintage shops, and local goods stores. The Riverton Racing Club’s two-day Easter carnival is Southland’s best-known race meeting. Te Hīkoi, the Riverton Heritage Centre, opened in 2007.

Before the arrival of Europeans, Riverton was home to a substantial Māori pā called Aparima, the inhabitants attracted by the harbour and plentiful seafood. In the mid-1830s, Captain John Howell established a whaling station there. He took a Māori woman of high rank as his wife and acquired a lot of lands. A large memorial beside the Aparima River estuary commemorates Howell.

Farming has been the most important economic activity in the district. Still, there has also been timber and flax milling, gold mining, and fishing. Chinese miners worked at Round Hill in 1888. The port was active for commerce until a railway opened to Invercargill in 1879. Since then, it has only been used for fishing and recreation.

Riverton has kept many colonial buildings and cribs (tiny holiday homes) on the west side of the estuary and at the Rocks on Howell Point. Pleasure craft and fishing boats ply the adjacent seas.

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