Wairarapa Boundaries History Economy Wildlife The Real New

The area contains parts of the local government regions of Wellington, Manawatu-Wanganui, and Hawke's Bay. The region currently has little official status as an entity, divided totally between these three regions.

The district's northern borders are vague, and there is some overlap with southern Hawke's Bay. Part of the reason is that the area was settled from both the north and the west and has been the subject of several reorganisations of local government.

The area to the north of Mt. Bruce, extending through Pahiatua and WoodvilleWoodville is a small town in the southern North Island of New Zealand. It is located 75 kilometres nort of Masterton and 25 kilometres east of Palmerston North, and has a population of 1479 ( 2001 census). The town is located in the Tararua District of th to about DannevirkeFor the Danish defensive fortification, see Danevirke. Dannevirke Dane's work , is a rural service town in the southern Hawke's Bay area of New Zealand. It is the major town of the administrative district of Tararua, the easternmost of the districts in wh, is called the Tararua (with a district council of the same name) and is in the Manawatu-Wanganui region, because it is in the catchment of the headwaters of the Manawatu River . The river runs westward between the ends of two mountain ranges (Tararua, already mentioned, to the south and the Ruahine Ranges to the north) via the Manawatu GorgeThe Manawatu Gorge (in Maori Te Apiti meaning 'The Narrow Passage') runs between the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges of the North Island of New Zealand, linking the Manawatu and Hawke's Bay regions. The Manawatu Gorge is considered significant because, unlike to pass Palmerston NorthPalmerston North Urban Area Population 77,600 Extent north to Kairanga Bunnythorpe Rd & Ashhurst; south to military camp, SH 57 TerritorialAuthority Name Palmerston North City Population 77,100 Extent north to Cloverlea, airport & Ashhurst; south to Linto and reach the west coast of the North Island.

The east coast contains settlements such as Tinui, Castlepoint, and Riversdale, while the main southern rivers drain through or past Lake WairarapaLake Wairarapa is a lake at the southern end of the North Island of New Zealand, 50 kilometres east of Wellington. The lake covers an area of 78 km2, and is the third largest in the North Island, fractionally smaller than Lake Rotorua. The nearest town to to discharge into Palliser BayPalliser Bay is located at the southern end of the North Island of New Zealand, to the southeast of Wellington. It runs for 40 kilometres along the Cook Strait coast from Turakirae Head at the southern end of the Rimutaka Ranges to Cape Palliser, the Nort east of Cook Strait.

2 History

The name means "Glistening Waters", and is said to have been applied by an early Maori explorer, Huanui , who saw the rivers and lake from the mountains to the west.

Rangitane and Ngati Kahungunu were the Maori tribes ( iwi) in the area when European explorers arrived in the 1770s.

European settlement began in the early 1840s, initially on large grazing runs leased from Maori, but with closer settlement from the 1850s.

On January 23, 1855 the region was hit by the strongest earthquake ever recorded in New Zealand, which reached Magnitude 8.1 on the Richter Scale. There were five deaths.

3 Economy

The agricultural industries, including forestry, cropping, and sheep and dairy farming, are major land users. The area around Martinborough, in the south, is renowned for its vineyards and wine, while beer has been made at Mangatainoka, near Pahiatua, since 1889. Deer farming is growing in importance.

Many residents, especially in the western towns such as Featherston and Greytown, commute to work in Wellington, either by train (which has used the Rimutaka Tunnel since 1955) or over the Rimutaka Ranges by road.

4 Wildlife

Many of New Zealand's endangered native birds can be seen at the National Wildlife Centre at Mt. Bruce, which lies just south of Eketahuna.

5 The real New Zealand?

Eketahuna is considered by some to be the epitome of rural New Zealand towns.

6 Famous people born in the Wairarapa

Bob Charles, golfer, at Carterton.
Keith Holyoake, Prime Minister of New Zealand, at Pahiatua.
Maurice Wilkins, scientist, whose work led to the discovery of DNA, at Pongaroa.

7 See also

8 External links

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1 Boundaries