Balclutha, New Zealand established a ferry service across the Clutha in 1857; as a result the town was initially called Clutha Ferry. The Māori name for the area is Iwikatea, literally "Bleached bones" (a local Māori tribal battle in 1750 left the decomposing bodies of the defeated, their bones whitened in the sun). The Clutha River flows through the town. It is the largest river in New Zealand by volume of water, and the country's second longest after the Waikato. It provides the town with various recreational facilities, including fishing (brown trout), water skiing and power boating. The most prominent structure in the
Freshwater River Freshwater River The Freshwater River is the longest river on Stewart Island / Rakiura, the third largest of New Zealand's islands. It arises close to the island's northwestern point, from which it is separated by a ridge, and flows southeastward through the Ruggedy Flat for before reaching the Paterson Inlet on the island's central east coast. The Freshwater is the longest New Zealand river not to be located in either of the country's two main islands. The river's catchment dominates much of the island's north, forming a wide swampy basin that covers some (almost a tenth of the island's total