Styx River (Canterbury)

I'm here at the Styx River, or Pūharakekenui as it's known in Māori. It forms part of the northern boundary of Christchurch and eventually flows into the Waimakariri River, right near its mouth, through the Brooklands Lagoon.

It's pretty interesting how it starts. It originates in Harewood, which is a Christchurch suburb, as a dry swale that only fills up intermittently with stormwater. But as it heads northeast, it gets fed by several springs, and then the Kaputone Stream and Smacks Creek join in as its main tributaries. Other smaller waterways, both natural and man-made, also drain into it as it winds its way through Belfast, Marshland, and Spencerville before reaching Brooklands and then the lagoon.

The English name is a bit of a mystery. It's obviously from the Styx in Greek mythology, the river separating Earth from the Underworld, but why it was chosen here is unknown. There are a few theories though. One idea is that it was originally called 'Sticks' because European settlers used flax-stick rafts to cross it, or maybe bundles of flax sticks were laid in its bed. Another thought is that flax sticks were stuck in the ground to guide travelers to a log bridge. There's even a suggestion it's linked to Māori using the area for embalming and cremation ceremonies, or recovering the dead from the swamps. The name "Styx" first showed up in the electoral rolls back in 1865-66.

It's clear this area is seeing a lot of urban development, but there's a big plan in place called the "Styx Vision 2000–2040." The Christchurch City Council adopted it in 2001 after a lot of community consultation. The idea is to create a "Viable Springfed River Ecosystem," a "Source to Sea Experience" as an Urban National Reserve, and even a "Living Laboratory" for learning and research, inspired by botanist Leonard Cockayne. They also want to maintain the special character of the area and foster partnerships. It seems like the council has actually been buying up a lot of land along the waterways here, which is pretty cool because it's going to form an ecological network.