Presentation 3

Main Menu

Ngamatea and Timahanga

Photographs

One day during my flying training I was poring over a chart when I noticed a large flat-looking area where I didn't think any flat area should be, so I asked my instructor, Guy Waldron, what it was. He said, "Pete, that's Ngamatea", and I've been fascinated by the area, the so-called Inland Patea, ever since (there is an explanation for the name in the the Hastings District Council website, www.hastingsdc.govt.nz). The area is easy enough to find by driving the Napier-Taihape road, which is what I did on a cold showery day in November 2000. First there was another surprise; after climbing the infamous Gentle Annie and travelling the length of the Long Swamp, all scrub and wilderness, I came face to face with...cows. Guy hadn't told me about Timahanga, a farming area nestled north and south between the Kaweka and Ruahine ranges, and east and west between the Kaikomata (Comet) and Sparrowhawk ranges. Driving on up to Ngamatea, which is about 500ft higher than Timahanga, I was greeted with the scene in the first photograph below. With a freezing wind, an approaching squall, and few signs of modern civilisation I wouldn't have been surprised to see Genghis Khan and his hordes charging across the plain. Actually, it's not too different from other central North Island farmlands other than for its isolation, although at around 3,000ft they don't farm much higher.


f181100116	p080707172	p080707194	f20040319

f200403114	p080707136	gtimahanga	f181100136

f181100121	p080707144	f181100131	f181100219