19-669: The Ōrongorongo River runs for 32 kilometres (20 mi) southwest through the Ōrongorongo Valley in the southern Remutaka Ranges of the North Island of New Zealand. The river and its associated catchments lie within the bounds of the Remutaka Forest Park , which is administered by the Department of Conservation . The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of Rongorongo" [a woman's name] for Ōrongorongo . Ōrongorongo River
38-541: A loop via Ocean Beach and Ōrongorongo on an 18 km (11 mi) farm track, via Turakirae Head . Due to soft sand near the beach and rough rocks over stream fans , a few short sections of the track cannot be cycled and a 2019/20 count of 1,976 trips along the section, was put down to this insufficient infrastructure. The Ōrongorongo valley is home to the at-risk moth species Pyrgotis transfixa . 41°25′S 174°54′E / 41.417°S 174.900°E / -41.417; 174.900 This article about
57-554: A major dormitory suburban area for Wellington , and is a location for manufacturing and heavy industry , educational and recreational facilities, and the region's motor camps. Petone , on the Wellington Harbour shoreline, was proposed as the initial site for the settlement of Wellington by the New Zealand Company . However, as the chosen site was soon seen to be prone to river flooding, early settlement
76-557: A river in the Wellington Region is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Remutaka Ranges The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua , then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east coast between Wellington and East Cape . The 555-metre summit of
95-753: Is often applied to the Hutt Valley from the name of the 'house of Whātonga at Nukutaurua vollage ( pā )'. In 1846 there was fighting between Māori tribes and the Government, known as the Hutt Valley Campaign . The Hutt River also has the name Te Awa Kairangi, and was a major arterial route for Māori . There was a trail linking Wellington Harbour and the Wairarapa over the Remutaka Range and through Pākuratahi river . Before
114-478: Is the main artery of the Remutaka Range, draining an area with rainfall of up to 2,400 millimetres (94 in) a year, which is twice as much as the rainfall at the mouth of the river at Cook Strait . For much of its course the river is a braided river , with a wide bed of greywacke shingle and gravel and a number of streams of water. The gravel bed can be seen as light-coloured areas of varying width in
133-462: The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake large Māori boats (waka) could travel as far Pākuratahi river, and European ships could also go up the valley 'almost' to Silverstream. The lower valley contains the city of Lower Hutt , administered by Hutt City Council , while the adjacent, larger but less populous city of Upper Hutt has its centre on the smaller plain above the Taita Gorge. The valley forms
152-549: The New Zealand Expeditionary Force . The march was re-enacted in 2015. Much of the range is protected as the Remutaka Forest Park and Wainuiomata Water Collection Area . 41°10′S 175°10′E / 41.167°S 175.167°E / -41.167; 175.167 Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in
171-736: The Wairarapa Line railway used to climb across the Remutakas, including the famous Rimutaka Incline , a rare example of the Fell mountain railway system . It opened on 12 August 1878 and closed on 30 October 1955, when it was replaced by the Rimutaka Tunnel . The former route is now the popular Remutaka Rail Trail and part of the Remutaka Cycle Trail. The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust has plans to rebuild
190-529: The Wellington region of New Zealand . Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt , a director of the New Zealand Company in early colonial New Zealand. The river flows roughly along the course of an active geologic fault , which continues to the south to become the main instrument responsible for the uplift of the South Island 's Southern Alps . For this reason,
209-495: The Hutt River near Taitā. It flows underground down the Hutt Valley and out under Wellington Harbour. Some early Māori nations ( iwi ) of the region were Ngāi Tara, Muaūpoko , Rangitāne , Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō and Ngāti Ira . These iwi descended from the sons of Whātonga, Taraika and Tautoki-ihu-nui-a-Whātonga, who migrated through the lower North Island with some descendants settling in the Hutt Valley. The name Heretaunga
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#1732783348826228-517: The Rimutaka Forest Park. Several Department of Conservation huts, some of them serviced, as well as basic private baches dot the Ōrongorongo Valley, mainly around the river's upper half. Until the 1850s land transport between Wellington and Wairarapa used a route round the coast via the Ōrongorongo river mouth. In 2013 it became part of a Great Ride cycle route, linking Petone with the existing Remutaka Rail Trail and completing
247-457: The adjacent image. Because the rainfall in the Remutaka Range often comes in high-intensity rainstorms, the river is prone to violent floods. The most severe of these floods sweep away most of the river's vegetated islands every 15 to 20 years. Between these floods, the shingle islands are gradually colonised by various low growing plants, followed by a host of native shrubs such as tauhinu and mānuka, and eventually small trees. In December 2019,
266-576: The approved official geographic name of the river was gazetted as "Ōrongorongo River". The Ōrongorongo Valley is popular with day walkers and trampers from the Wellington Region. The most popular access is via the Catchpool Valley. The four-hour return Ōrongorongo Track reaches the river where Turere Stream flows into it. From there, a number of day and multi-day tracks, ranging from walking tracks to routes, continue deeper into
285-439: The land rises abruptly to the west of the river; to the east two floodplains have developed. The higher of these is between 15–22 km (9.3–13.7 mi) from the mouth of the river. Beyond this, the river is briefly confined by a steep-sided gorge near Taitā , before the land opens up into a long triangular plain close to the outflow into Wellington Harbour . The Waiwhetu Aquifer is formed from water seeping underground from
304-545: The railway from Maymorn, including the Incline, as a tourist and historical attraction. During World War I over 30,000 New Zealand soldiers marched between military camps at Trentham, Upper Hutt and Featherston via the Rimutaka Hill Road, in a three-day trek of 27 miles (43.5 km). There were 23 marches of 500 to 1800 men between September 1915 and April 1918, at the end of their training as reinforcements for
323-660: The road over the range at its northern saddle is named Remutaka Pass . The pass was formally named on 17 December 2015 when the Minister of Land Information confirmed the decision of the New Zealand Geographic Board. Following the passage of the Rangitāne Tū Mai Rā (Wairarapa Tamaki nui-ā-Rua) Claims Settlement Act 2017, the name of the range officially changed to Remutaka Range. The Remutaka Range runs north-east to south-west for 55 kilometres from
342-468: The road's summit is a lookout point where there were usually tea rooms and well-guarded facilities maintained by residents. More recently there was a café. After disputes over toilets and land ownership between the then still new Greater Wellington Regional Council and a series of tenants the building sat empty, was severely damaged by fire in April 2009 and later demolished. Taking a quite separate route
361-573: The upper reaches of the Hutt Valley (where the range's northern saddle abuts the southern end of the Tararuas) to Turakirae Head at the western end of Palliser Bay . The highest peak is Mount Matthews , at 940 metres, near the southern end of the range. Narrow and winding, State Highway 2 crosses the range from the Hutt Valley to Featherston at the saddle where it meets the Tararuas. At
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