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Kaitoke (sometimes called Pakuratahi), part of Upper Hutt City, is a locality in the southern North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the northern end of the Hutt Valley, 45 kilometres northeast of Wellington City and six kilometres from the northern end of the Upper Hutt urban area. It also lies at the southern end of the Tararua Ranges.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "eat worms" for Kaitoke. [1]
The "Puffer" tramping track providing access into the Tararua Forest Park climbs from Kaitoke onto and along the Marchant Ridge. This ridge is the part of the Tararuas that is prominently visible from Wellington. The Marchant Track has a side track leading to the Tauherenikau Valley. The end of the Marchant Ridge (after four hours of 'up hill, all the way, both ways') leads to Mount Alpha, and onto The Southern Crossing. The entire track to Alpha skirts the Hutt Water Collection Area.
The first Youth Hostel in the North Island was established in the old Ministry of Works barracks at Kaitoke, which were behind the Post Office and alongside the Kaitoke Hall. The Post Office, the Hall, and the Youth Hostel were the only buildings of the settlement. Other facilities include a small airstrip operated by the Upper Valley Gliding Club for the purposes of gliding the area's thermals. [2]
The Pakuratahi River flows through the eastern Kaitoke Basin from its source in the Remutaka Ranges. The old route of the Wairarapa Line railway, which closed with the opening of the Rimutaka Tunnel in November 1955, ran from Upper Hutt via Maymorn to Kaitoke and around Goat Rock up the Pakuratahi to the Summit, and from there, because of excessive steepness, the Fell mountain railway system was used to aid trains on the Rimutaka Incline between Summit and Cross Creek. This railway is now the Remutaka Rail Trail. The Hutt River has its source to the north of Kaitoke, and much of the land in the vicinity is used as a water supply reserve. Filming, rafting, swimming and other human activity all take place downstream of the water intake.
The nearby Kaitoke Regional Park was the filming location for exterior shots of Rivendell for the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring .
Climate data for Kaitoke (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1966–1998) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 29.0 (84.2) | 30.4 (86.7) | 29.0 (84.2) | 26.0 (78.8) | 21.6 (70.9) | 17.9 (64.2) | 19.0 (66.2) | 17.2 (63.0) | 22.1 (71.8) | 22.6 (72.7) | 26.1 (79.0) | 28.7 (83.7) | 30.4 (86.7) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 20.6 (69.1) | 21.3 (70.3) | 19.4 (66.9) | 17.0 (62.6) | 14.6 (58.3) | 11.8 (53.2) | 11.6 (52.9) | 12.1 (53.8) | 13.6 (56.5) | 15.2 (59.4) | 16.8 (62.2) | 19.1 (66.4) | 16.1 (61.0) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 15.9 (60.6) | 16.2 (61.2) | 14.4 (57.9) | 11.9 (53.4) | 10.1 (50.2) | 7.9 (46.2) | 7.4 (45.3) | 7.6 (45.7) | 9.4 (48.9) | 10.6 (51.1) | 11.9 (53.4) | 14.5 (58.1) | 11.5 (52.7) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 11.2 (52.2) | 11.0 (51.8) | 9.3 (48.7) | 6.8 (44.2) | 5.5 (41.9) | 3.9 (39.0) | 3.2 (37.8) | 3.1 (37.6) | 5.1 (41.2) | 5.9 (42.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 9.8 (49.6) | 6.8 (44.3) |
Record low °C (°F) | 0.8 (33.4) | −2.0 (28.4) | −3.5 (25.7) | −4.6 (23.7) | −4.4 (24.1) | −6.5 (20.3) | −5.7 (21.7) | −6.3 (20.7) | −4.0 (24.8) | −3.9 (25.0) | −2.5 (27.5) | −1.0 (30.2) | −6.5 (20.3) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 116.8 (4.60) | 133.9 (5.27) | 131.7 (5.19) | 178.9 (7.04) | 120.8 (4.76) | 210.3 (8.28) | 237.5 (9.35) | 210.8 (8.30) | 202.6 (7.98) | 300.6 (11.83) | 235.7 (9.28) | 148.1 (5.83) | 2,227.7 (87.71) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 223.4 | 184.5 | 159.7 | 140.4 | 100.0 | 62.0 | 84.3 | 102.2 | 119.1 | 157.8 | 150.7 | 177.4 | 1,661.5 |
Source: NIWA (sun 1981–2010) [3] [4] |
The Hutt Valley is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in 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.
Upper Hutt is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area.
The Hutt River flows through the southern North Island of New Zealand. It flows south-west from the southern Tararua Range for 56 kilometres (35 mi), forming a number of fertile floodplains, including Kaitoke, central Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt.
The Rimutaka Incline was a 3-mile-long (4.8 km), 3 ft 6 in gauge railway line on an average grade of 1-in-15 using the Fell system between Summit and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa side of the original Wairarapa Line in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The term "Rimutaka Incline" is sometimes used incorrectly to refer to other parts or all of the closed and deviated section of the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Speedy's Crossing, near Featherston. The incline formation is now part of the Remutaka Rail Trail.
The Remutaka Range 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 Remutaka Tunnel is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Remutaka Range, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line.
Te Mārua is the easternmost urban suburb of Upper Hutt. For reasons of location and distance from the city, the area is often classified as rural. In December 2019, the approved official geographic name of the locality was gazetted as "Te Mārua".
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for 172 kilometres (107 mi), connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Masterton.
The Southern Crossing is a tramping track in New Zealand's Tararua Range. The track is approximately 32 kilometres (20 mi) long and typically takes two to three days to complete. It begins in Ōtaki Forks in the west, and continues over Mount Hector finishing in Kaitoke north of Upper Hutt.
The Hutt Valley Line is the electrified train service operated by Transdev Wellington on behalf of Metlink on the section of the Wairarapa Line railway between Wellington and Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust is a non-profit, charitable trust in New Zealand that was established in 2003 with the objective of reinstating an operating heritage railway over the Remutaka Ranges using the original route of the Wairarapa Line between Maymorn and Featherston, including the world-famous Rimutaka Incline.
Remutaka is an electorate returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. Since the 2008 general election, the seat has been represented by Chris Hipkins, who served as Prime Minister of New Zealand and is currently the Leader of the Opposition.
Kaitoke railway station was a single-platform rural railway station on the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Featherston in the Wellington region of New Zealand's North Island. Initially it was the railhead of the Wairarapa Line, at a point where the railway met the main road between Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa. Later it was a point at which locomotives were changed, steam engines were watered, trains could cross, and passengers could make use of the refreshment room.
Cross Creek railway station was the base of operations for the Rimutaka Incline, a Fell railway over the Rimutaka Ranges, and part of the original Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Featherston in the Wellington region of New Zealand's North Island. The station was between Pigeon Bush and Summit stations on the Wairarapa Line. The station was bypassed when the Rimutaka Tunnel was opened.
The Remutaka Rail Trail is a walking and cycling track in the North Island of New Zealand. It runs between Maymorn and Cross Creek, and follows 22 kilometres (14 mi) of the original route of the Wairarapa Line over the Remutaka Range between the Mangaroa Valley and the Wairarapa, including the world-famous Rimutaka Incline. Parts of the trail are also used by vehicles both from the regional council and from forestry companies with tree plantations in the area; members of the public have limited vehicular access from the Kaitoke end to a car park, go-kart track and gun range. Access is also granted by permission to horse riders. Touring coaches have been used upon occasion to convey tourists and other visitors to various parts of the route.
Remutaka Forest Park is a protected area near Wellington, New Zealand. Popular access points are south of Wainuiomata and in the upper Hutt Valley. The park covers 220 square kilometres (85 sq mi), encompassing the Catchpool Valley and the Ōrongorongo Valley at the southern end of the Remutaka Range. Established in 1972, the park contains several short walks and six huts that can be booked and accessed by longer bush tramps. The park is one part of several local conservation areas, as it borders the Pakuratahi Forest and the Tararua Range.
Kaitoke Regional Park is regional park located at Kaitoke, northeast of Upper Hutt, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's southern North Island. It is administered by Wellington Regional Council, alongside the adjacent Hutt Water Collection Area.
The Pākuratahi River, previously the Pakuratahi River, is a river of the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows northwest from its source in the Remutaka Range 15 kilometres (9 mi) east of Lower Hutt to join the Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River near Kaitoke.
Hutt Water Collection Area is a reserve located in Upper Hutt in the Wellington Region at the southern end of New Zealand's North Island. It is administered by Wellington Regional Council and is located alongside the larger Kaitoke Regional Park.
Pākuratahi Forest is a regional park located in Upper Hutt in the Wellington Region at the southern end of New Zealand's North Island. It is administered by Wellington Regional Council.