The King Country was slow to be settled by
Europeans.
KING COUNTRY
The King Country, or Rohe Potae, was originally a large
tract of the western central North Island
Europeans called the area “the King Country” because it
was here that Tawhiao sought refuge following the Maori Wars. It was terra
incognita to the colonial Government and a place of refuge for all who
refused to make peace with the Queen. Maoris knew the district as Rohe Potae
(“the edge or brim of the hat”) which name arose – according to tribal tradition
– because Tawhiao threw his hat on a large map of the North Island in order to
demonstrate the area he claimed. Within this district, the “King” ruled as an
independent monarch and strangers entered his realms at their own risk.
As a result of the 1880 survey the boundary of the King
Country was defined for the first time. – about 7,000 square miles in all –
forming the King Country Block.
Since the survey was made, many portions of the King
Country have been opened for settlement, and much land has been sold or leased
to settlers. Europeans moved into the King Country very late in the 19th
Century and much of the land was used for ballots after WW1. Te Kuiti,
Taumarunui, and Otorohanga, which were once Maori villages, are now thriving
towns. No vestige of the Maori “King's” independent “principality” remains but,
for many years, the district was subject to special provisions about the sale of
liquor. This took place on 3 December 1884 when the Government of the day issued
a Proclamation under section 25 of the Licensing Act of 1881. There was nothing
secret about this action (for years there was talk in some quarters of a secret
“pact” or “pledge”); any other Maori district, if it so desired, could be
declared a no-license area under the Act of 1881.
When you
visit the farms and bush lands around Ongarue you will step back in time to an
era early in New Zealand’s pastoral and logging history. Much of the King
Country is still undeveloped left to slowly revert to scrub and then native
bush. You will see hand split totara
post and battern fences, hay barns with red tin roofs and silage pits covered
with tyres. In the 1970s-1990s pine plantations were planted over much of the
southern King Country. In the late 1980s many sheep and beef farmers’ deer
fenced parts of the farm to run fallow deer. On both days of the Safari you will
see pine plantations, some recently logged and others near maturity. You will
see deer behind deer fencing.
You will
be guaranteed to see wild goats, billies with wide sets of horns and nannies
with kids at foot.
For the
bird watchers, you will see large flocks of wild turkey and you may be lucky
enough to see one of our many cock ring necked pheasants. A new visitor to the
avian species is the Eastern rosella. You might be very lucky and see and hear
the native falcon or Kaka.
The Tangitu drive
will take you up and over very steep cut and eroded gullies.
The Tangitu Hills together with the Hiwi Hills separate the Ruapehu District and
the Waitomo District. There will be many opportunities to look north towards
Pureora and the vast tracts of virgin forest that lie in the forest. Looking
south there will be views of the Ongarue River, home in its upper reaches to the
blue duck.
The Mangakahu drive features farms on soft white pumice. The Mangakahu Valley farms spread up into the Hauhungaroa Ranges which separate the King Country from the Lake Taupo district. A major feature of the Mangakahu Valley is Mt Hikirangi, a table top mountain. Mt Hikurangi is the 771m high flat-topped mountain that you see on the left just before you drive into Taumarunui. This landmark, in spite of its shape is not a volcano. On a clear day, you can see Mts Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, Tongariro and Taranaki.