Parapara River

River in Tasman District, New Zealand

40°50′11″S 172°38′50″E / 40.8363°S 172.6471°E / -40.8363; 172.6471 • elevation1,249 metres (4,098 ft) Mouth

• location

Parapara Inlet

• coordinates

40°43′42″S 172°40′48″E / 40.72821°S 172.68005°E / -40.72821; 172.68005

• elevation

0 metres (0 ft)Length20 km (12 mi)Basin featuresProgressionParapara River → Parapara Inlet → Golden Bay / Mohua → Tasman SeaTributaries • leftBlue Creek, Greenwood Creek, Glen Gyle Creek, Raby Riley Gully • rightGrueby Creek, Happy Valley Stream, Dam Creek, Washbourn Creek

The Parapara River is a river of the Tasman Region of New Zealand's South Island. It flows generally north from its watershed in the Kahurangi National Park, reaching Golden Bay at the small settlement of Parapara, 5 kilometres south of Collingwood.

In Māori tradition, the river is inhabited by a taniwha called Kaiwhakaruaki, who used to attack the people of Motueka and Tākaka. This tradition derives from Society Islands in Polynesia, where a monstrous shark called 'Aifa'arua'i (a cognate of Kaiwhakaruaki) is said to have lived in the Parapara Strait between Motue'a and Taha'a islands (cognates of Motueka and Tahaka).^[1]

References

"Place name detail: Parapara River". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 12 July 2009.

^ Anderson, Atholl (2015). "Ancient Origins, 3000 BC – AD 1300". In Anderson, Atholl; Binney, Bridget; Harris, Aroha (eds.). Tangata whenua : a history. Wellington, New Zealand: Bridget Williams Books. p. 30. ISBN 9780908321537.

Kahurangi National Park

Mountains

Mount Arthur
Mount Burnett
Mount Owen

Mountain ranges

Mountain passes

Granity Pass

Caves

Coastal features

Lakes and reservoirs

Boulder Lake
Lake Sparrow

Walking tracks

Rivers

Tasman District	Anatoki River Aorere River Baton River Big River Boulder River Brown River Clark River Clarke River Cobb River Dart River Devil River Ellis River Fyfe River Hope River Kaituna River Little Boulder River Little Devil River Little Ōnahau River Little Pokororo River Little Slate River Little Waingaro River Matiri River Ōnahau River Onekaka River Ōtere River Owen River Parapara River Pariwhakaoho River Paturau River Pearse River Pokororo River Puremāhaia River Riuwaka River Rocky River Rolling River Saxon River Sherry River Skeet River Slate River Snow River Spey River Stanley River Tadmor River Tākaka River Te Waikoropupū River Turimawiwi River Waingaro River Wangapeka River
Buller District	Allen River Beautiful River Crow River Gunner River Heaphy River Hemphill River Huia River Johnson River Kahurangi River Kākāpō River Karamea River Kōhaihai River Leslie River Lewis River Little Crow River Little Wanganui River Mōkihinui River Ōpārara River Basin Postal River Roaring Lion River Taipō River Ugly River
both districts	Buller River