The Waipaoa River, with a catchment area of 830 square miles, rises in the heavily forested Raukumara Range south of Mt. Arowhana (4,724 ft). The major tributary, the Waikohu, rises near Matawai in the saddle in the Raukumara Range through which the Gisborne-Opotiki road passes. The Te Arai, also flowing from the west, rises in the eastern part of the coastal highlands south-west of Poverty Bay and drains an area that is largely grassed farm land. The Waingaromia drains the central area of coastal highlands to the north of the Poverty Bay Flats, joining the Waipaoa at Whatatutu. The Waihora whose catchment lies to the south of the Waingaromia has its confluence with the main river at Te Karaka.

The Awapuni Lagoon communicates with the river through a long channel, and the river itself, after running for more than a mile behind a sand bank, finally enters the sea a few miles north-west of Young Nicks Head. What appear to be two old channels of the river, the Taruheru River and Waikanae Creek, flow through Gisborne on the opposite side of the valley from the present river channel.

The western part of the catchment of the Waipaoa is rugged, rising to 4,000 ft. More than three-quarters of the total area is in soft, very clayey, lower Tertiary and upper Cretaceous marine sediments. In the Waingaromia and upper Waipaoa, and also at Waerengaokuri, a significant proportion of the sediments are the lower Tertiary (Dannevirke Series) bentonites which, when wet, flow under gravity. The rainfall pattern of the East Coast produces periodic high-intensity downpours, sometimes amounting to an inch an hour for several hours. Occasionally rainfalls as high as 10 in. in 24 hours occur, and a runoff as great as 5 in. an hour has been recorded. The sediment content of the Waipaoa River is very great and the river bed tends to aggrade, causing serious problems in river control. The river meanders widely over its lower plain, and river-straightening works have been carried out at Matawhero in the lower valley, where in some places the valley floor has been built up more than 20 ft since the Taupo pumice eruption some 1,850 years ago.

The minimum flow of the Waipaoa was 90 cu. ft. per second in March 1948. Since 1853 floods covering a large part of the lower valley are recorded. In 1853 the valley was covered with water from Waerengaohika to Gisborne. Severe floods occurred in 1867, 1879, 1906, 1910, 1914, 1916, 1932, 1944, and 1948. The largest recorded flow was in 1932, with 145,000 cusecs. This was almost equalled in 1948, with 140,000 cusecs.

The Maori name of the river is associated with Wai-a-Paoa, “the river of Paoa”. Paoa, a great chief, lived with his people in the forests of the mountainous interior of the East Coast district. According to legend, he built a canoe and then created the river in order to launch it.

by Thomas Ludovic Grant-Taylor, M.SC., New Zealand Geological Survey, Lower Hutt.

The Waipa River is the major tributary of the Waikato River, the junction being at Ngaruawahia. Its catchment area measures approximately 1,100 sq. miles and is one-fifth of the total catchment for the Waikato River. The headwaters of the Waipa River lie within the Rangitoto Range, the main tributaries joining it at Pirongia and Otorohanga. Thence it flows northwards along the western margin of the Hamilton Lowlands where it has been forced by sedimentation deposited by the Waikato River. A minimum flow of 718 cusecs was measured in 1946 and a flood flow of over 20,000 cusecs was measured in the May 1953 floods. The Waipa contributes greatly to flooding in the Waikato Valley; in 1953 it carried about half the flood water.

Before the arrival of white settlers and during the early period of their occupation, the Waipa River (possibly meaning “the river of fortified villages”) was an important access route to the western margin of “The Waikato”, to the Raglan County, and to the “King Country” which lies to the south of the Puniu River. Therefore many pas and some of the first mission stations were established along its banks, and from them grain, corn, and dairy products were sent to early Auckland. Now the Waipa is no longer used for transportation and the neighbouring farm land is almost wholly used for the dairy industries.

by James Cecil Schofield, M.SC., New Zealand Geological Survey, Otahuhu.

Waimate is situated about 7 miles inland from the coast of South Canterbury and on the southeastern part of the Canterbury Plains. Except on the west where the land rises to the southern extension of the Hunters Hills, the surrounding country is flat to undulating. Waimate is the terminus of a branch goods railway extending 5 miles west from Studholme Junction on the South Island Main Trunk line. By road Waimate is 28 miles south-west from Timaru (29 miles by rail), and 28 miles north-east from Oamaru (33 miles by rail).

Sheep raising is the main primary industry of the district. Other farming activities include large-scale potato growing; small-fruits growing, particularly strawberries and raspberries; market gardening; nursery gardening for the florist trade, with tulips a specialty crop at Morven (8 miles south-east); and cereal and grass seed cropping. There are grain and produce stores, a vegetable-processing establishment, a seed-cleaning works, and stock saleyards at Studholme Junction. Lime is quarried at Limestone Hill (about 6 miles west). Waimate serves a large district and industrial activities of the town include the manufacture of butter, woollen goods, joinery, concrete products, agricultural machinery, and coal gas; general engineering, sawmilling, and seed cleaning. There are large grain and seed, and wool and skin stores in the town.

Waimate was originally a Maori village called Te Waimatemate, the early name of the small stream close by the present town, which means “slowly moving waters”. This stream is now known as Waimate Creek. The Maori village was located on the fringe of a 3,000-acre bush. The resident population was small but during appropriate seasons numbers of Maoris from Arowhenua (now Temuka) and further south congregated at Te Waimatemate for bird hunting. The first notable European visitors to pass through the district were probably Edward Shortland who in 1844 was travelling north closely following the coast from Otago to Akaroa, and Bishop George Augustus Selwyn, who at that time was travelling south. Between 1848 and 1852 the district was explored by W. B. D. Mantell and Charles Torlesse and, towards the end of that period, by several squatters seeking grazing land. On 18 July 1854 Michael Studholme and Saul Shrives arrived with a bullock dray from Christchurch to select run country. Studholme made an agreement with Huruhuru, chief of the locality, with respect to the boundary of adjoining Maori land. On 1 February 1855, in partnership with his brother, John Studholme, Michael secured a grazing licence over 35,000 acres and later took up another 25,000 acres on Waihao Downs. Several adjoining runs were also taken up about 1855. By 1858 the town site adjoining the Waimate Bush was officially Te Waimate but it was then better known simply as “The Bush”. In this year the first town survey was made. During the late 1850s the timber industry began to develop and the population grew. By 1864 Waimate was an important sawmilling centre, but when a disastrous fire occurred in November 1878, most of the Waimate Bush was destroyed, and the main local industry ended. The branch railway from Studholme Junction to Waimate was opened for traffic on 19 March 1877. Soon afterwards the Waimate Railway Co. extended the line to Waihao Downs (8 miles south-west), opened for traffic in 1883. This extension was closed in December 1953. The town site was reserved by the Canterbury Provincial Government on 11 October 1859. Waimate was proclaimed a borough on 8 September 1879.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 2,907; 1956 census, 3,107; 1961 census, 3,308.

by Brian Newton Davis, M.A., Vicar, St. Philips, Karori West, Wellington and Edward Stewart Dollimore, Research Officer, Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington.

This Canterbury river lies between the Rakaia and Hurunui Rivers, with its catchment on the main divide and its mouth 8 miles north of Christchurch. The larger tributaries to the Waimakariri all flow from the north and are, from west to east, the Bealey, Poulter, and Esk. The only tributaries from the south of any consequence are Broken River and Kowai, both of which are considerably smaller than any of those from the north. On rare occasions, usually in mid-winter, short stretches of the Waimakariri River up-stream of the Esk have been dry for brief periods. The catchment is about 1,000 sq. miles in area and runs for 30 miles along the main divide from the Foy Pass in the north (leading into the Taramakau) to the Harman Pass at 4,316 ft in the south (leading into the Taipo). Like the other large Canterbury rivers, such as the Rakaia and Rangitata, the Waimakariri is snow fed and generally unaffected, or but little affected, by south-west rain. It is in fresh during north-west wind conditions which are more common between October and March. The average flow at the main road bridge is 2,000 – 2,500 cusecs; the highest recorded flood was in excess of 120,000 cusecs and the lowest flow recorded is 1,400 cusecs.

For the last 30 miles of its course the Waimakariri leaves its gorge in the hills to flow across the Canterbury Plains and enter the coast near Kaiapoi. Small coastal ships are able to cross its bar with some difficulty and use the port of Kaiapoi.

The only railway line to Westland for the most part follows the Waimakariri as far as its junction with the Bealey River where it turns up that river to pass beneath Arthur's Pass at 3,020 ft via a 5½-mile tunnel. The main road to the West Coast follows the same route westward from Cass, but east of Cass it swings several miles to the south to follow the Broken River basin and Porters Pass.

It is generally accepted that the Maori name for the river means “cold water”.

by Henry Stephen Gair, M.SC., New Zealand Geological Survey, Christchurch.

Waikouaiti is situated on flat land near the northern end of a small bay and about 2½ miles north of the mouth of the Waikouaiti River. The bay, which is bounded on the north by Cornish Head and on the south by Huriawa Peninsula, provides a comparatively sheltered anchorage. A mile west of the town the narrow coastal plain rises to undulating and hilly country. The Dunedin-Oamaru highway and the South Island Main Trunk railway pass through Waikouaiti. Dunedin is 25 miles south-west by road (32 miles by rail) and Oamaru is 46 miles north-east by road or rail. The view from the railway above the bay is one of the most beautiful coastline vistas in New Zealand.

Sheep farming is the principal primary activity of the district. Karitane, 4 miles south-west of Waikouaiti, is a base for commercial sea fishing. Waikouaiti has no important industrial activities but is a minor trade and servicing centre. The town also serves as a dormitory for staff members of Cherry Farm Mental Hospital, 2 miles southwest. In common with Karitane and other nearby coastal townships, Waikouaiti attracts large numbers of visitors in the summer holiday season.

In pre-European times the main fighting pa of the district appears to have been the heavily fortified Huriawa Peninsula. It was known as Te Wera's pa and, according to a Maori account, it was here that Te Wera, chief of the district, and his people who lived in nearby villages, were besieged by foes for many months towards the end of the eighteenth century. Close to the isthmus of Huriawa Peninsula, on the landward side, was the original whaling station established in 1837 by John Jones. In 1839 Jones decided to establish a permanent agricultural community at Waikouaiti, and acquired land there for the purpose. He recruited in Sydney farm workers who had emigrated to New South Wales from the south of England and who were dissatisfied with the climate and conditions they found there. Jones offered them a fixed annual sum and freehold possession of 60 acres per family after two years' settlement. They sailed in Jones's brig Magnet and landed on Waikouaiti Beach in March 1840. In May of the same year Jones brought the Rev. James Watkin and his wife to act as clergyman and teacher to the children of the settlers, whalers, and Maoris, and provided a house, chapel, and school. Watkin from the outset took a firm stand against the vices of the whaling community and the savage customs of the Maoris, and was in a measure responsible for the subsequent orderly progress of the settlement. In August 1843 Jones's family arrived on the scene and made their home at Prospect Farm, Matanaka, the headland at the northern end of Waikouaiti Bay. Three years later a town council was established. In 1866 the town was incorporated as the borough of Hawksbury (or West Hawksbury). The town reverted to its original Maori name in 1909. Waikouaiti is said to mean “the water that decreased”, or “receding water”, perhaps referring to a change in the river's course in olden times. It is also stated, however, that the correct name is “Waikawaiti”, one meaning for which is “little stream of bitter water”. But the true meaning of the name is certainly obscure.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 601; 1956 census, 631; 1961 census, 687.

by Brian Newton Davis, M.A., Vicar, St. Philips, Karori West, Wellington and Edward Stewart Dollimore, Research Officer, Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington.

N.Z. Geographer, Vol. 12, Oct 1956, “The Geography of Power Resources in the Waikato Region”, Farrell, B. H.

A whole series of indices leads one to the conclusion that the economic structure of the region is still in the process of elaboration. Approximately half of the total population is rural. Although the figures reflect to a certain degree suburban growth, in the period 1951–61 the rural population grew by 23·47 per cent, which is a very high rate of growth for rural areas, and the growth seems to have occurred in all of the counties. Urban centres grew very rapidly and the urban population increased by 53·6 per cent, whilst the total population increased at the high rate of 36·66 per cent. In the past decade, therefore, the Waikato-Hauraki region has been one of the largest and fastest growing regions of the Dominion and much of the development has occurred in its agricultural sector. But the region is also destined to make its mark in the manufacturing sector. On present trends, therefore, it seems that Waikato-Hauraki will assume an even higher rank in the national economy than it does today.

by Samuel Harvey Franklin, B.COM.GEOG., M.A.(BIRMINGHAM), Senior Lecturer, Geography Department, Victoria University of Wellington.

The Waikato-Hauraki region ranks as the first livestock region of the North Island. In 1952 it contained 13·41 per cent of the total North Island livestock units and, although one of the most intensively farmed regions, was estimated to have a “readily obtainable” potential to increase its carrying capacity by 35 per cent in the period 1948–75, which, if attained, would leave it, despite the relative advancement of the Central Plateau, still the leading North Island region. During the past decade, 1951-61, the number of sheep shorn has increased by 32·8 per cent and lambs shorn by 86·57 per cent, both rates of growth being above the respective national levels of 29·81 per cent and 6673 per cent. More impressive, as it was against the general trend, was the increase in cows in milk, 6·84 per cent, an increase registered in Waikato, Waipa, Piako, and Matamata counties, but hardly in Hauraki Plains and not at all in Raglan, which is unimportant for dairying. The region has the highest average production of butterfat per cow, 279·4 lb, and accounts for one in every four cows in milk in the whole of New Zealand.

Any traveller in the region soon appreciates the reasons behind Hamilton's importance and growth. In the first place the area which the city serves is a large and prosperous one with a potential for development that in absolute terms is very considerable. Secondly, travel by car within the region is rapid and easy so that Hamilton has benefited from the centralising effects of the motorcar, its growth having coincided largely with the motor age. In 1911 Hamilton borough numbered 4,655 persons, whereas Palmerston North possessed 10,991 inhabitants and Napier 10,537. By 1936, Hamilton's population had reached 16,150 and had surpassed Napier's, but Palmerston North, with 22,202, remained in the lead. By 1961, however, Hamilton was well ahead. The city contains many of the branch offices of banks and insurance companies and a number of Government Departments. Victoria Street offers a well-stocked retail shopping centre. Industry has been attracted to the area and the growing regional importance of the city is attested to by the establishment of an autonomous University of Waikato.

In the period 1953–61 the numbers employed in manufacturing have increased by 28·91 per cent, a rate above the national level. But the total labour force increased by 15·18 per cent, which is below the national rate of increase of 18·24 per cent. Farming remains the principal industry of the region, accounting for 28·61 per cent of the employment. Although 17·2 per cent of the labour force is engaged in manufacturing, this is below the figure for other agricultural districts, such as the Manawatu, which has 22·87 per cent in manufacturing. The increase amongst the Maoris has been remarkably high, 63 per cent, especially in the towns; and the region appears to have experienced marked in-migration. The increase has been general, though the rate of growth in the urban centres, 216·5 per cent, far outstrips the rural rate of 35·62 per cent. The Maori population of Hamilton rose from 594 in 1951 to 1790 in 1961, and that of Tokoroa from 88 to 845.

The western part of the region consists of more broken and higher country, with a lower density of population, and is devoted largely to sheep farming. It extends from Kawhia and Raglan Harbours in the south (both are attractive to tourists) to the mouth of the Waikato in the north. Much of the area is underlain with rocks of the lower Tertiary Age, in contrast to the remainder of the region where Quaternary deposits are predominant. These Tertiary rocks are associated with the coal-bearing strata which gives rise to coalmining in the vicinity of Huntly. The coal is sub-bituminous and the reserves are not only the greatest in the North Island but also rank amongst the most important for the whole Dominion. In 1960,1,451,423 tons, representing 48·18 per cent of the national production, were produced in the Waikato. The mines are sited to the west of Huntly at Rotowaro, Pukemiro Junction, Renown, and Glen Afton, and are linked by rail to the Main Trunk. Mining is undertaken both by opencast and by underground means, and State and private companies are engaged in the enterprise. To the east of Huntly a large opencast mine exists at Kimihia. At Kopuku, mining of the Maramarua field was rapidly extended to coincide with the opening in 1958 of the thermal electric station at Meremere on the banks of the river to the south of Mercer. Its installed capacity is 180,000 kW. Further up the Waikato River, but within the limits of the region, are the first two hydro-electric stations constructed on the river, Arapuni (1929), with a capacity of 175,880 kW, and Karapiro (1947–48), with a capacity of 90,000 kW. The lake behind the dam at Karapiro formed an attractive setting for the rowing events in the 1950 Empire Games.

The progress of settlement followed a different course in the Waikato district. At first small European holdings were established and the Maoris themselves became practised farmers, planting fruit trees and selling their wheat to the settlers and to Auckland. At the conclusion of the Maori Wars land was confiscated by the Government and about 3,000 former militia men were established on farms of 50 or more acres. The dairy industry was first promoted during the nineties, after a period when mixed farming was undertaken.

The boundaries of the Waikato are less neatly delimited than those of the Hauraki Plains. The main and central part of the area lies along the wide valley of the Waikato River, especially in the section between Cambridge and Ngaruawahia, but a considerable area of farming land, as important as the previous section, extends far southwards towards Te Kuiti along the valley of the Waipa and other tributaries of the Waikato. Dairy farming is pre-eminent, though fat lambing is also important. There are large areas of undrained swamp in the north near Mercer, Hamilton, and Te Awamutu; and a number of shallow lakes which find an outlet through the swamps. The largest, such as Lake Wakare and Lake Whangape, are near to Huntly, but small ones are to be found near Ngaruawahia and in the vicinity of Hamilton. The landscape derives much from the characteristic features of a dairy farming area. But the addition of the broad Waikato River itself, the more gently rolling character of the landforms, the occasional peak or ridge of volcanic rock or greywacke which breaks the line of the horizon, combine to create a landscape more diverse than that of the Hauraki Plains. The region is serviced by a number of market centres, principally Cambridge (5,290), a fast growing town, and Te Awamutu (5,425). Otorohanga serves the most southernmost districts. Hamilton's functions are of regional importance.