Sharplin Falls
| Sharplin Falls | |||||||||||||||||
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| Tāhekura (Māori) | |||||||||||||||||
Sharplin Falls | |||||||||||||||||
| Location | Staveley, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 43°37′30.5″S 171°24′33.4″E / 43.625139°S 171.409278°E | ||||||||||||||||
| Type | Cascade | ||||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 560 m (1,840 ft) | ||||||||||||||||
| Watercourse | Bowyers Stream | ||||||||||||||||
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Sharplin Falls (Māori: Tāhekura) is a waterfall on Bowyers Stream in the Staveley district of mid-Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand. The waterfall is located within a scenic reserve, and there is a popular walking track to a viewing platform. Sharplin Falls is located in a deep gully beneath the fault scarp that separates Mount Somers / Te Kiekie from Mount Winterslow, near the small settlement of Staveley. The falls and 1.3-kilometre-long (0.81 mi) access track are located within the 247 ha (610 acres) Sharplin Falls Scenic Reserve. The track to the falls passes through mixed beech forest that provides habitat for endemic birds including fantail (piwakawaka), bellbird (korimako), tomtit (miromiro), and kererū (the New Zealand pigeon). The forest includes Metrosideros umbellata (southern rātā), a species that has limited distribution in Canterbury.