The river's rich resources were invaluable to the local farmers as well as the source of their favourite meal; the Rainbow Trout.
In the 1930s Opawa River was diverted to stop Blenheim from flooding and the landscape was changed forever. Its redirection inadvertently transformed Riverby Estate into one of New Zealand's finest wine growing properties.
Riverby Estate now shows no sign of the Opawa, apart from the tales of longtime resident Peter Matthews, who relays the stories of his father Ellis catching trout where the river once flowed.
