North River (New Zealand)

North River
Location
CountryNew Zealand
Physical characteristics
Mouth 
 • location
Pohuenui River

North River is a locality in the Northland Region, New Zealand. The early European settlers in the area were Scottish immigrants from Nova Scotia and the eponymous river was named after the North River in Victoria county, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.[1] North River School provided education to the area from 1860 to 1939. The local language would have been Gaelic when the school opened.[2]

The North River itself flows through limestone caves before entering the Pohuenui River, which in turn flows into the Waipu River before this emerges into Bream Bay near Waipu. The North River lends its name to a locality[3] and a forest.[4]

Four species of native fish were found in the stream in a 1998 study – longfin eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii), short-finned eel (Anguilla australis), Cran's bully (Gobiomorphus basalis) and redfin bully (Gobiomorphus huttoni).[5] There are also rainbow and some brown trout.[6]

35°57′S 174°23′E / 35.950°S 174.383°E / -35.950; 174.383

References

  1. ^ Reed, A. W. (2010). Place Names of New Zealand. Revised by Peter Dowling. Rosedale, North Shore: Raupo. p. 276. ISBN 9780143204107.
  2. ^ "North River School 1860 – 1939". Bream Bay College. 2014.
  3. ^ "Place name detail: North River". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  4. ^ "Northland Regional Landscape Assessment Worksheet: North River and Waipu Caves forests and remnants" (PDF). Northland Regional Council. 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  5. ^ Richardson, Jody; Jowett, Ian G. (1998). Freshwater fish communities in Northland and methods for setting minimum flows (PDF). NIWA Technical Report 25. Wellington: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. p. 9. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  6. ^ "Northland Fishing tips for November". Fish & Game New Zealand. 21 October 2019.