.
The driving tour from Hastings to Wellington is very easy. You will be driving through rolling farmland and laid back country towns. In this trip you get to explore the most remote and scenic points on the east coast.
The long stretch of eastern coastline from the Hawkes Bay to the southern end of the North Island features the prominent shape of Cape Kidnappers at its northern end. According to Maori legend this is the tip of the sacred jawbone fish hook used by the famous mythical hero Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga. According to the legend, after chanting a prayer, Maui broke his nose and smeared blood onto the jawbone, then using supernatural powers, he fished up the North Island. His brothers later hacked the fish to pieces, forming the mountainous terrain of the North Island. Inland from this eastern coastline lay the rugged Ruahine and Tararua Ranges. In the early nineteenth century the plains and hill country between the coast and these ranges were covered in dense forests. The early European settlers struggled to establish farms here, cutting down the forests and eventually bringing in flocks of sheep, from as far away as Australia. They gradually built up their sheep stations and dairy farms which were followed by towns which sprang up to service the growing farming industry. These farms eventually prospered on the rich soils in the area, these same conditions also proving ideal for growing grapes, which lead to the establishment of many successful wineries. As transport improved, the Wairarapa became more easily accessible and today its towns have retained their charming rural character, attracting numerous visitors from the urban areas around Wellington to the south.
Hastings - Orchard
1hastings
The trip begins at Hastings 10 km southwest from Napier on SH2.
Fruit processing and winemaking are the major industries in this area so its not surprising that the countryside around Hastings is covered in market gardens, orchards and vineyards. Hastings is the fruitbowl of New Zealand so you will find plenty of apples, nectarines, peaches, apricots and kiwifruit for sale in season at roadside stalls. You can also head out to the Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds on Sunday mornings or sample local gourmet treats at the Hastings Farmers Market. Hastings is the second of the Bay Cities and like Napier, suffered heavy damage during the 1931 earthquake. The city was rebuilt in an art deco style similar to Napier and today features a number of these classic buildings from the 1930s which can be seen on the towns heritage trail. The art deco clocktower in the paved Civic Square is an interesting example of post-quake reconstruction and there are also a number of interesting Spanish Mission style buildings in the area. Splash Planet, on Grove Road, is an exciting water themed leisure park designed for children featuring the double dipper dual tube ride, the sky castle screamer, and the never-ending river as well as a pirate fortress pool complete with cannons. For spectacular views across Hawkes Bay, you can take a drive up onto Te Mata Peak which is the location for a number of adventure sports including hang-gliding and tandem paragliding from the 399 m summit.
Huge cliffs loom above the beach leading to Cape Kidnappers
2cape kidnappers
From Hastings follow SH2 northeast 8.5 km to Clive. Turn right onto Mill Road and drive southeast 3.4 km onto Haumoana Road and 0.3 km onto Parkhill Road. Continue 1.4 km onto East Road and 0.9 km onto Clifton Road. Continue 5 km to Clifton on the coast.
This is a spectacular stretch of coastline even if you only have time for a brief visit. From the coastal settlement of Clifton you can take a walk along the beach at low tide under sheer cliffs made up of layers of sandstone, river gravels, pumice and silt, deposited between 300,000 and 1 million years ago. You can see fragmented fault and tilt lines in the cliffs that tell the story of the many earthquakes, upheavals and movements along this part of the coast. A few kilometres further up the beach is the world famous Cape Kidnappers gannet colony. Set on a plateau 120 m above the sea near the end of the peninsula, the area is occupied by up to 10,000 birds in November and December each year. This is the largest mainland gannet breeding colony in the world and from October to April, guided tours to the the Saddle and Black Reef gannet colonies depart daily from Te Awanga. The Cape Kidnappers Gannet Reserve is managed by the Department of Conservation for the purpose of protecting the gannet nesting sites.
the australasian gannet
The Australasian gannet (takapu) is usually found in large colonies, nesting on offshores island around New Zealand and southern Australia. The gannets have a 2 m wing span, average around 2 kg in weight and can live to between 25 and 40 years. These remarkable birds make a 2800 km long flight across the Tasman Sea when they are just 16 weeks old. At this age the chicks have not yet even been airborne. They return from Australia two to three years later and by the time they have reached 5 years old they have begun mating and nesting, spending most of their lives around New Zealand coastal areas. Australasian gannets have been nesting at Cape Kidnappers since the 1870s with their numbers steadily increasing to 6,500 pairs, making this not only the largest but also the most accessible mainland colony in the world.
3waipawa
Return to Hastings and drive south 43 km to Waipawa.
Located near the confluence of the Tukituki and Waipawa Rivers, Waipawa is close to a ford where the ancient Maori trail between Manawatu Gorge and Hawke's Bay crossed the Waipawa River. One of the oldest inland towns in New Zealand, Waipawa was once a port for steamers carrying wool and grain to Napier. Originally named Abbotsford, it was founded as a private town by sheep-station owner F. S. Abbot. Back then most of the area south of Napier was taken up by sheep stations, and towns like Waipawa and Waipukurau were established to service these large estates. The towns eventually grew as the estates were broken up into smaller farms from the late nineteenth century onwards. Today there is a thriving local community including painters, potters and various crafts-people supported by a number of galleries and studios. There is good trout fishing around Waipawa and the town features a fascinating old Municipal Theatre dating back to the early 1900s. Gliding and hot air ballooning are popular at nearby Waipukurau.
Dannevirke-Farm
4dannevirke
Continue south 7.3 km on SH2 to Waipukerau. You will pass the Tukituki Wildlife Reserve stretching upriver from the Waimarama Bridge. This reserve provides a peaceful haven for ducks, stilts, shags and pheasants along the backwaters and braided river channels of this river. Continue 52.9 km southwest from Waipukurau on SH2 to Dannevirke.
This town was cut out of Seventy Mile Bush by Scandinavian settlers in the 1870s and has become a major farming centre in the southern Hawke's Bay. From Norsewood and Dannevirke south into the Wairarapa, many of the towns started out as bush settlements established by Scandinavian migrants. Some Scandinavian traditions are still maintained in these areas and the local museums record the special character that these Danes, Swedes and Norwegians brought to the early settlements. The town also has a proud Maori history, and at Makirikiri Marae you can admire the carvings at the Aotea meeting house.
woodville
Continue southwest 27 km to Woodville on SH2.
Named because of its location between two vast areas of totara forest, the Forty Mile Bush to the south and Seventy Mile Bush to the northeast, the township of Woodville has retained a line of its original old railway houses along Atkinson Street. This railway junction town also features a small pioneer museum on Ormond Street. The town is a popular stop for antique lovers, with shops crammed full of collectables and colonial furniture. You can see copies of the works of Gottfried Lindauer, one of New Zealand’s most famous artists who lived and worked here in the early 1900s, in a replica of his studio. Woodville is close to both the Tararua and Ruahine forest parks which are popular for fishing, hiking and hunting. From the tiny settlement of Ballance, named after Liberal politician and later premier, John Ballance, you can take a horse drawn wagon tour up into the hills to view the massive wind driven turbines at the Tararua Wind Farm.
mangatainoka
Continue 10 km south on SH2 to Mangatainoka.
Located on the banks of the Mangatainoka River, the town is best known for the Tui Brewery, set up by Henry Wagstaff in 1889. In 1903 he sold the brewery to Henry Cowan, who later developed the award-winning East India Pale Ale. As the factory expanded, a tower was added in 1931, enabling the brewers to use gravity to turn malt into beer. When the tower was first built they found that it didn’t have either a lift or stairs, a problem that had to be rectified later. Today the seven storey tower is a local landmark and although no longer used, is a protected historic place. Dominion Breweries became the owners in 1969 and the Tui brand is now well known throughout New Zealand from its humorous ‘yeah right’ marketing campaign. There is a museum and tours of the brewery can also be arranged.
5pahiatue
Continue 5 km south on SH2 to Pahiatua.
Pahiatua was founded in 1881 in the heart of the densely forested area known as the Forty Mile Bush. Its wide main street was originally planned to carry the railway line that passes the outskirts of the town, so today the extensive centre strip is ultilised for extensive gardens and rest areas. The Manawatu and Mangatainoka Rivers nearby are renowned for their excellent trout fishing.
In the early days it was a timber town, but once the forest was cleared, dairying and sheep farming became the predominant industries. An internment camp was set up at Pahiatua during the Second World War to house ‘enemy aliens’, moved from Somes Island in 1943. In 1944 they were sent back to the island, and the camp became home to 734 children, all refugees from war-torn Poland. Most of them became New Zealanders and in 1975 some returned to unveil a memorial sculpture on the site, just south of the town.
eketahuna
Continue 25 km south on SH2 to Eketahuna.
Set on terraces above the Makakahi River towards the southern end of the heavily forested Forty Mile Bush, Eketahuna was originally named Mellemskov (heart of the forest) by the Scandinavian settlers who founded the town in 1872. These government assisted migrants were contracted to fell the bush and build roads. After the land was cleared, dairying and sheep farming developed and the town eventually became a borough in 1907. In 1920 the train carrying the Prince of Wales on his tour of New Zealand, stopped in Eketahuna to take on water. The train stopped too far away for the crowd that had gathered to see the prince, so the outraged citizens took to the main street, ringing fire bells and burning effigies of the officials responsible for the snub.
6pukaka mt bruce
Continue 15.7 km south on SH2 to Pukaha Mt Bruce, located on the left side of the road.
New Zealand's National Wildlife Centre for the conservation of some of the countries most endangered wildlife, Pukaha Mount Bruce was established in 1958 to rear the takahe, thought to be extinct until rediscovered in 1948. The centre features huge tree filled aviaries that are now home to a variety of endangered native New Zealand birds. Auckland and Campbell Island teals, the New Zealand pigeon, the saddleback, stitchbird and kokako are all currently being studied and bred at the centre. You can meet a kiwi, watch the kaka being fed and take a walk through a 6oo year old rainforest, one of the few remaining pockets of lowland native forest in the area, featuring stands of rimu, northern rata and kahikatea.
Masterton
7masterton
Continue 23 km south on SH2 to Masterton.
The largest town in Wairarapa region, Masterton hosts the annual Golden Shears competition, an international sheep-shearing event that attracts the top shearers every year in the first week of March. Queen Elizabeth Park on Dixon Street is a delightful complex of gardens and streams with an aviary and a deer park. The Recreation Centre nearby has both indoor and outdoor pools including one of the longest hydro-slides in the country. The Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History on Bruce Street has helped foster a cultural resurgence in the region and is well worth a visit, as is the Shear Discovery Centre located next door in rustic woolsheds where you can hear about the pioneering history of sheep farming in New Zealand.
Castlepoint offers stupendous views
8castlepoint
The turnoff to Castlepoint is clearly signposted just north of Masterton. Drive east 65.8 km on the Masterton Castlepoint Road to the inlet at Castlepoint.
Castlepoint is one of the most picturesque locations on this remote stretch of coastline. There are a number of walks from the end of the road. You can visit a huge limestone cave, walk to Deliverance Cove and climb the 162 m Castle Rock for impressive views along the coast. You can also cross the bridge on a short boardwalk to the old Castlepoint lighthouse built in 1913. This is a popular holiday and fishing destination and features a safe swimming beach and tidal lagoon often frequented by dolphins and seals. The reserve is also home to white fronted terns, red billed gulls and black shags as well as being the only place you can find the rare Castlepoint daisy. Castle Rock is the most spectacular landform along this part of the coast, made up of successive layers of lime and sandstone which were deposited on the sea floor over the last two million years. As the land was gradually pushed up from the sea, the softer mudstone was worn away, exposing the harder limestone. The offshore reef is also made up of limestone, following the pattern of the faults that run along the length of its sides.
castlepoint horse races
The settlement at Castlepoint is famous for its annual horse races which have been held on the beach since the late 19th century. These events have always been lively with plenty of alcohol being consumed. After a Wellingtonian hustled a station hand out of his pay packet one year, the crowd turned on him, forcing him to hide in a patch of gorse which they then set on fire. On another occasion a policeman and an elderly Maori woman, drinking at Whakataki’s Marine Hotel, fell asleep while sitting next eachother, eventually waking to find themselves handcuffed together, with no key in sight. The races are usually held at the beginning of March.
9carterton
Return to Masterton and continue 15.4 km southwest on SH2 to Carterton.
Originally known as Three Mile Bush, the historic town of Carterton was founded in 1857 to provide a base for men working on the road between Greytown and Masterton. The town was renamed in 1859 in recognition of the work done by Charles Carter, a strong advocate of the small farm settlers in the Wairarapa and a member of the Wellington Provincial Council. St Mark's Church, the public library and a cast-iron band rotunda are a few of the early structures that survived a fire that devastated the town in its early days. Despite this setback, Carterton grew along with the dairy industry which prospered on the rich alluvial soils along with more recently established wineries. The town has styled itself as the ‘Daffodil Capital of New Zealand’, so it’s a joy to visit in spring. The Daffodil Festival, held every September since the 1920s, is an invitation to pick armloads of daffodils from a large flower-packed field. Carterton has a collection of antique shops, a good choice of cafes and an interesting paua shell factory. There is also a local history museum located at the railway station, used by Wellington commuters.
Cobblestones Museum, Greytown
10greytown
Continue 8.5 km southwest on SH2 to Greytown.
Greytown was the first settlement in the Wairarapa area and New Zealand’s first planned inland town. Established in 1854 it was named after Governor Sir George Grey, who endorsed the Small Farm Association which aimed to place labourers on their own small and affordable farms. Both Greytown and Masterton were originally settled under this scheme. The town is set among mature trees, many dating back to 1890 when Greytown introduced Arbour Day to New Zealand. Its main street is a charming and functional showcase of Victorian colonial architecture with beautiful wooden buildings, many of which house art and antiques shops as well as excellent cafes. The Cobblestones Museum, on Main Street, displays farming equipment, transport and household items inside a restored 1850s cottage. The countryside around Greytown is well known for its rich alluvial soils which produce some of the tastiest fruit and vegetables you’ll ever find.
papawai marae
On the outskirts of Greytown is Papawai Marae and its meeting house, Te Wai Pounamu. This became the centre of a Maori self-government initiative, Kotahitanga, in the late 1890s. Papawai was first established in the 1850s when a flour mill, an Anglican church and a school were built on land set aside by the government for a Maori settlement near Greytown. The first domninat leader of Papawai, Te Mānihera Te Rangi-taka-i-waho of the Ngati Kahungunu tribe, supported pastoral leases and engagement with Europeans. He was succeeded in the 1880s by Hamuera Tamahau Mahupuku and the Hikurangi meeting house was built in 1888. The Aotea meeting house and Te Waipounamu were also built for the Kotahitanga or Maori parliament. Sessions were held in 1897 and 1898 with a resolution passed to end Maori land sales. Visited by Lord Ranfurly, the governor general, and by Premier Richard Seddon, Papawai hosted a large hui (meeting) in 1898 to discuss government plans to administer Maori land. Mahupuku believed this would give Maori a degree of independence. He sided with the government and the Kotahitanga movement was split. Just before Mahupuku died in 1904, he built a palisade enhanced by 18 whakairo (carved figures) made from totara around the marae. The male and female figures represented famous people, including the leader Nukupewapewa and a local European settler, William Mein Smith. Rather than looking outwards to confront enemies, the figures were set facing inwards to represent peace between Maori and Pakeha. In 1911 the acting prime minister James Carroll unveiled a marble memorial erected by the government to Mahupuku at Papawai, for his role in bringing Maori and Pakeha together. The unveiling attracted up to 4,000 Maori and 2,000 Europeans, who consumed 275 sheep, 20 bullocks, 45 suckling pigs, 48 tons of potatoes and several dozen geese and turkeys in the accompanying banquet. Papawai declined in the following years and was later damaged by gale force winds. Despite calls by Sir Apirana Ngata in 1946 to preserve Papawai, little was done until the 1960s when conservation work began on the whakairo figures with the work completed in the 1980s. Hikurangi was moved and became the new meeting house, behind a restored gateway. Today, the marae is a vital part of local life and offers courses, including tai chi and line dancing.
11featherston
Continue 13 km southwest on SH2 to Featherston.
Originally named Burlings after an 1840s pioneer, the town was renamed in 1854 after Dr Isaac Featherston, Wellington's first provincial superintendent. During the First World War it was the site of New Zealand's largest military camp, which became a prisoner of war camp for Japanese soldiers in the 1940s, the history of which is told in the Featherston Heritage Museum. Historic buildings include Anzac Hall, built in 1915 as a place to entertain troops in training, the courthouse, library and two churches. The Fell Engine Museum on the main highway has the last of the locomotives that made the 1 in 5 grade climb on three rails over the Rimutaka Incline from 1890 until a tunnel was opened in 1955. The museum also has one of the original incline brake vans as well as a range of railway memorabilia. The old railway line is now an excellent walking and mountain bike trail.
From Featherston it is 57 km on SH2 and SH1 to Wellington including the steep and winding stretch of highway over the Rimutaka Range.