Western Uplands

The Western Uplands, or King Country region, is a broad extent of hill country which lies to the west of Lake Taupo and Ruapehu and reaches the coast between Kawhia and Urenui. The region is referred to under a variety of names, the term King Country stressing its historical associations and the term North Taranaki stressing its provincial associations. Inland Taranaki is purely locational in emphasis and Western Uplands is quite neutral and recent in origin. No name has become the customary one – hence the dual title. Four counties, Otorohanga, Waitomo, Taumarunui, and Clifton, together with their interior boroughs, are the principal units for the collection of statistics. Their limits exceed the boundaries of the hill country so that Clifton County includes a portion of the rich Taranaki dairying land, and Otorohanga County lies at the southern extremity of the richer and lower Waikato region. The southern part is included within the counties of Patea and Stratford, in which has been incorporated Whangamomona County, one of the most renowned districts of the region. While reference is made to this county, no account of it is given in the statistical tables. The heavy maintenance costs arising out of the rugged topography of the region and the problem of financing four county council administrations out of the pockets of a limited number of ratepayers are shown in the recent elimination of a number of counties. Kawhia County, once part of Waitomo County, was established as a separate unit, only to be divided subsequently between Waitomo and Otorohanga counties. Few people will remember there was once an Awakino County, now part of Waitomo. Taumarunui County now incorporates both Ohura and Kaitieke counties, and for both of them and Kawhia, no separate figures are shown. In 1961 the total population of the region was 41,516, 25·50 per cent of which were Maoris, and it represented 1·71 per cent of the national total. There are only two towns of any size, Te Kuiti (4,492) and Taumarunui (4,961).

Landscape Patterns

The only way to appreciate the Western Uplands is from the air; on the ground the view is restricted to one isolated and confined valley. An observer on a flight from Wellington to Auckland can judge the extent, remoteness, and limited degree to which settlement has penetrated the area. From the coastal area between Wanganui and Patea, clay and metal roads strike inland like the fingers of a splayed hand. Along them the green of exotic pastures contrasts with the denser colours of the bush and the regenerated bush areas which cover the ridges separating the valleys. Eventually the roads come to an end and virgin forest prevails, until further north the same pattern is repeated by the roads reaching down towards the southern extremities of the Waikato. The bush hides the heavily dissected nature of the terrain which has made settlement so costly and often a failure. The region is underlain largely by the same Tertiary deposits which are found in the Wanganui-Rangitikei region, but the more westerly location is associated with a very high rainfall of 60–80 in. and in the higher parts of 80–100 in. High rainfall, combined with inaccessibility and infertile soils, has provided the greatest barrier to successful human occupancy.

It is impossible to cross the region from north to south, even though the Wanganui River flows through the greater part of the district, since the road which follows it ends at Pipiriki. One must traverse the region from Stratford in the west, following the railway line (completed in 1932) as far as Ohura, and then proceed to Taumarunui, where nearby the Stratford line joins the Main Trunk. The only major settlements along this section are Whangamomona, accounting in 1961 for 186 persons, and Ohura (654), whose development is linked with a number of small coalfields. The total output of lignite and sub-bituminous coal is negligible: 130,810 tons, or 4·34 per cent of the national output in 1960. A better route runs from Ahititi on the New Plymouth – Hamilton State Highway (Number 3) eastward to Ohura and then via Tokirima to Taumarunui. Except for tourists, who use the Whangamomona Road, this is the preferred route. The New Plymouth – Hamilton highway stays close to the coast until it crosses the mouth of the Mokau River (bridged only in 1927). It then turns inland along the valley of the Awakino and Mahoenui, where some of the better class farming land of the region is to be seen. The valleys are deep and broad, but large areas of scrub and regeneration create an impression of untidiness. Before reaching Piopio (population, 457) quite good views are obtained across the region. The accordance of summits at about 1,000 ft is very apparent; the only break in the level surface is created by Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu.

A little to the north of Piopio, at Eight-mile Junction, the New Plymouth – Hamilton highway is joined by Highway Number 4, connecting the Waikato with Taumarunui and National Park. Taumarunui is the only settlement of any size in the district, owing its importance to its function as a centre for the local farming and timber-milling populations and to its location upon the railroad. Highway 4 follows a course determined by the ridge and valley pattern so characteristic of the region, the landscape being composed of store-sheep farms, timber-milling settlements, and areas of bush and reversion. The overwhelming impression is of an environment disrupted by human occupancy, but never mastered. To the north of Piopio and a little beyond Te Kuiti lies the southern Waikato dairying district, with a landscape that seems in contrast to be all man-made.

Growth of Settlement

The construction of the Main Trunk railway provided the initial impetus to the settlement of the region. Europeans, especially missionaries, had appeared on the fringes of the region in the earliest period of settlement. The Wesleyans were established at Kawhia Harbour in 1834 and at Arapae (near Piopio) in 1843, and at this period prosperous Maori farms were established north of Otorohanga. As a result of the Maori Wars, most of this prosperity was destroyed and in 1864 the boundaries of the King Country were drawn, prohibiting white settlement south of Te Awamutu. The prohibition was lifted in 1885 and two years later Te Kuiti became the railhead. From that time until after the First World War, European settlement pushed southwards, eventually linking with pioneer farms established along the Main Trunk in the valley of the Rangitikei and towards Ohakune and with those which had been established along the Stratford-Whangamomona route.

In 1911, three years after the completion of the Main Trunk, the total population numbered only 15,043 and Te Kuiti and Taumarunui each had few more than 1,000 people. By 1936 the population had doubled, both in the rural and in urban areas, but in the following 15 years the rural population increased by only 167 persons. These general figures obscure a number of divergent trends. The population of the dairying areas, as represented by Otorohanga County, continued to increase (by 700 persons) and the more favoured ridings of Clifton County increased slightly or maintained their population. In Waitomo County the population of the Tangitu riding increased by 633, the Mahoenui riding by 190, whilst the population of the Aria and Awakino ridings decreased by 268 and 305. The total population, both of Ohura and of Whangamomona counties, fell by 273 and 500. It was in Whangamomona that the most spectacular and therefore the most memorable setbacks to pioneering ambitions occurred, as is evidenced by the case of Aotuhia.

Farming Problems

Aotuhia lies to the south of Whangamomona, in the valley of the Whangamomona Stream, which is a tributary of the Wanganui River. The bushland, mostly under tawa, was opened up in 1893 and excellent pastures were established on the steep hills. In the early twenties the pastures began to deteriorate rapidly and became infested with bracken, hard fern, and manuka scrub. Erosion was accelerated and eventually 23,500 acres were abandoned. The remaining farmers were forced to leave the area during the Second World War after heavy rains had so extensively damaged the roads as to render their repair uneconomic. The area is now totally abandoned. About Whangamomona itself the farmers managed to hold out. The small holdings were aggregated into workable units and the roading problems were not so difficult. But it was clear that fundamental research directed towards an understanding of local soil conditions and an improvement of pastures would provide the only long-term solution to their problems. The research received Government support and the subsequent investigations have proved basic to the consolidation of the farmers' position. After more than 60 years of European occupation half the area, 54·4 per cent, remains in forest, and a quarter, that is, 24·8 per cent, is in scrub and scattered grass. Only 17·2 per cent of the total area now remains under grass.

As a result of this history the Western Uplands acquired a popular reputation as a difficult farming area. It came rather as a surprise, therefore, to learn in the post-war years that, when evaluating the livestock potentiality of the North Island, the officers of the Department of Agriculture reckoned the Western Uplands to have, after the Central Plateau and North Auckland, the highest “most likely potential” for increase in livestock numbers during the period 1948–75. In obtaining this potential increase the region would move in importance from the rank of seventh to that of fifth among the North Island livestock regions. High prices enabling the greater use of fertilisers, especially with aerial topdressing, would increase the cattle-carrying capacity of the pastures and therefore control second growth – thus ran the reasoning behind the estimates. And therefore, even in Whangamomona County, land development by the State is under way once more. At Kohuratahi 6,407 acres and at Mount Dampier 6,151 acres are undergoing development, and progress is being made in the Pohokura district. In the Whangamomona area alone a total of 54,611 acres is considered as suitable for development.

Recent Developments

The improvement in conditions during the postwar period is reflected in the general statistics for the region. After a period of stagnation the rural population has resumed growth, though slowly, 4·73 per cent being the increase for 1951–61. The area in grass has increased by 54,980 acres during the same period. The percentage increase in sheep shorn, 31·3 per cent, is above the national rate of 29·73 per cent, but the increase in lambs shorn, 49·02 per cent, has not obtained the national level. Logging remains an important activity, especially as this region contains a fair proportion of the remaining indigenous timbers of the North Island. The Titanomagnetite (Taranaki) ironsands still await acceptance as an exploitable resource. They are exposed as blue-black to dark grey beach and dune sands along most of the coast, but are concentrated particularly around the Kawhia and Aotea Harbours and Lake Taharoa, where the deposits are described as vast. The iron content of the sands is not great and the titanium content is much lower, but one of the few estimates made assesses the ore-mineral content of the Taharoa sands as equivalent to 153 million tons of iron. If an industry were established there is no likelihood whatsoever of its being located near the raw materials and the gain to the region arising from the exploitation of these sands would be only incidental.

With so few towns in the region, it is obvious that the primary industries rather than the manufacturing industries are the principal sources of wealth: 72·40 per cent of the total population are located in rural areas, though this percentage is a little exaggerated because it includes the populations of the small towns, such as Kawhia (324), National Park (391), Owhango (422), Raurimu (312), and Manunui (948); figures are for 1961. During the decade 1951–61 total population increased by 12·82 per cent, well below the national average, the increase being concentrated mostly in the towns. The Maori population, though not large, forms a significant element in the regional population (25·59 per cent) and has increased by 33·97 per cent, a figure which does not indicate any considerable emigration from the region.

The principal features of the region, its isolation and the difficulty of its terrain, remain unchanged. In the light of modern technologies its pastoral potential obviously needs re-evaluation, but these achievements must now be attained in face of steady if not falling prices and limited market opportunities.

Statistics of the Western Uplands – King Country Region

*Separate figures for each county not available.

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

• The Land Utilisation Survey of North-east Taranaki, Department of Lands and Survey (1962)
• Livestock Farming in the North Island – a Study in Production Trends and Potentials, White, J. U. (1954)
• New Zealand Geographer, Vol. 6, Oct 1950, “Te Kuiti and the Northern King Country – a Region of Agricultural Transition”, Fox, J. W.