Avanaro River

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The Avanaro River is a river on the island of Maunaroa, whose estuary sits just to the west of the port of Marutau Harbour in Marutau, the largest city on Maunaroa and capital of the King Christian Islands. With a length of nearly 5.5 km, the river's source is Lake Rotokaha, a relatively large mid-highlands lake along the eastern foothills of the Kamua Mountains' middle section. The lake itself is fed by rainfall as well as two streams originating from hot springs to its northeast. The Avanaro River has been the primary source of freshwater for Marutau since its founding circa AD 770, remaining so to this day and for immediately surrounding communities.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The name Avanaro literally means "lost river" in Maohi. According to the Maohi people's history, as recorded in the Rauroa (ca. AD 1330), the source of the river was originally a mystery and matter of debate amongst local tribes, as about 1.3 km from Lake Rotokaha, the river went underground, only to emerge just under a kilometre from its estuary at Marutau. As such, for at least a century, due to the density of the jungle under which the river flowed, the source of the river remained a mystery, and thus it was unclear whether the outflow from Lake Rotokaha and the emerging river flowing to Marutau were one and the same. Sometime in the first decade of the 19th century, with extensive forestry and the help of European technologies including mining and gunpowder, the underground portion of the river was exposed, proving the that the two were indeed one and the same.