Kawarau Gorge
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The Kawarau Gorge is a major river gorge created by the Kawarau River in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The towns of Queenstown and Cromwell are linked by State Highway 6 through the gorge.[1]
The gorge begins some 30 kilometres from Queenstown, close to the wine-growing community of Gibbston and the large rock outcrop known as the Nevis Bluff. It continues for some 25 kilometres before the river emerges into the upper valley of the Clutha River close to the settlement of Ripponvale. The gorge is the site of several extreme sports, including bungy jumping at the Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge, and white-water sports such as kayaking[2] and riverboarding,[3] and one of only two known areas where the nationally critical endangered fungus weevil Cerius otagensis has been found.[4]
The name Kawarau literally translates to many shrubs. Kawa: shrub, rau: many.[5]
