Kaitoke (sometimes called Pakuratahi), part of

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

City, is a locality in the southern

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is located at the northern end of the

Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') 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 Zeala ...

, 45 kilometres northeast of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

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 Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand. The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of ...

. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...

gives a translation of "eat worms" for ''Kaitoke''. 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 Hutt Water Collection Area 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 and is located alongside the larger Kaitoke Regional ...

. 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. The Pakuratahi River flows through the eastern Kaitoke Basin from its source in the

Remutaka Range The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) 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 ...

s. The old route of the

Wairarapa Line The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, which closed with the opening of the

Rimutaka Tunnel The Remutaka Tunnel (spelled Rimutaka Tunnel before 2017) is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Remutaka Range, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line. The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 November ...

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 The Fell system was the first third-rail system for steep grade railway, railways that were too steep to be Rail adhesion, worked by adhesion on the two running rails alone. It uses a raised centre rail between the two running rails to provide ex ...

was used to aid trains on the

Rimutaka Incline The Rimutaka Incline was a , 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 t ...

between Summit and Cross Creek. This railway is now the

Remutaka Rail Trail The Remutaka Rail Trail (spelled ''Rimutaka Rail Trail'' prior to 2017) is a walking and cycling track in the North Island of New Zealand. It runs between Maymorn and Cross Creek, and follows of the original route of the Wairarapa Line over t ...

. 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 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 regional park of Hutt Wa ...

was the filming location for exterior shots of

Rivendell Rivendell ('' sjn, Imladris'') is a valley in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, representing both a homely place of sanctuary and a magical Elvish otherworld. It is an important location in ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of th ...

for the movie '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring''.

References

{{coord, 41, 5, 0.5, S, 175, 10, 3, E, region:NZ, display=title Upper Hutt