river in North Island, New Zealand. It rises in the Rangitoto Range south of Te Kuiti and flows southwest for 98 miles (158 km) to enter North Taranaki Bight of the Tasman Sea. The Mokau River drains a basin of 550 square miles (1,425 square km); its lower valley is a dairying area subject to periodic flooding. Despite a sandbar at its mouth, the Mokau is navigable to a falls 23 miles (37 km) upstream. The towns below the falls include Mokau, a former port a mile from the sea. Mokau is a Maori word meaning “winding stream.”