A station or run, in the context of New Zealand agriculture, is a large farm dedicated to the grazing of sheep and cattle. The use of the word for the farm or farm buildings date back to the mid-nineteenth century. The owner of a station is called a runholder. Some of the stations in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

have been subject to the voluntary

tenure review Tenure review is a process of reviewing the leasehold tenure of some high country land in the South Island of New Zealand. It currently involves 20% of the South Island or 10% of the total land area of New Zealand. Tenure review began with the pa ...

process. As part of this process the government has been buying out all or part of the leases. Poplars Station in the

Lewis Pass Lewis Pass (el. 907 m.) is a mountain pass in the South Island of New Zealand. The northernmost of the three main passes across the Southern Alps, it is higher than the Haast Pass, and slightly lower than Arthur's Pass. State Highway 7 trave ...

area was purchased in part by the government in 2003. The

Nature Heritage Fund The Nature Heritage Fund is a funding body of the New Zealand Government set up in 1990 for the purchase of land which has significant ecological or landscape value. It is administered by the Department of Conservation, but controlled by the Min ...

was used to purchase 4000 ha for $1.89 million. Birchwood Station was bought in 2005 to form part of the Ahuriri Conservation Park St James Station was purchased by the Government in 2008.

Notable stations

* Akitio Station, formerly a property located in the Southern North Island province of

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

and host to the touring English Cricket team in the 20th century. * Castle Hill Station, located on State Highway 73; location of a popular rock-climbing area. *Double Hill Station, located up the

Rakaia River The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The Rakaia River has a mean flow of and a mean annual seven-day low flow of . In the 1850s, Euro ...

. *Erewhon, named after Samuel Butler's book – a fictitious place based on Mesopotamia Station. * Marainanga Station, Southern North Island, formerly – famously associated to

Ocean Racing Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or ...

– and the

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. They are: * The Andean condor (''Vu ...

maxi yacht A maxi yacht usually refers to a racing yacht of at least in length. Origin The term ''maxi'' originated with the International Offshore Rule (IOR) rating system, which in the 1970s and 1980s measured offshore racing yachts and applied a single ...

campaigns of the 1970s/1980s; and connected to the 1908 foundation of the UK's

Stoke Park Club Stoke Park is a private sporting and leisure estate in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. The mansion building (designed by James Wyatt in 1788) is located in the middle of of parkland, lakes, gardens and monuments. In 1908, it became the first count ...

. *

Mesopotamia Station Mesopotamia Station is a high-country station in New Zealand's South Island. Known mainly for one of its first owners, the novelist Samuel Butler, it is probably the country's best known station. Despite popular belief, Butler was not the stati ...

, associated with 19th century novelist Samuel Butler. *

Molesworth Station Molesworth Station is a high country cattle station. It is located behind the Inland Kaikoura Mountain range in the South Island's Marlborough District. It is New Zealand's largest farm, at over and supports the country's biggest herd of ...

, New Zealand's largest farm, now administered by the Department of Conservation. * Mt Nicholas Station, on the western shores of Lake Wakatipu is 40,000 hectares and runs 29,000 Merino sheep and 2,300 Hereford cattle. * St James Station, purchased by the Government in 2008 to be conservation land. *Walter Peak Station, founded in 1860, is a 25,758 hectare working high country sheep station on the southern shore of

Lake Wakatipu Lake Wakatipu ( mi, Whakatipu Waimāori) is an inland lake ( finger lake) in the South Island of New Zealand. It is in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland. ''Lake Wakatipu'' comes from the original Māori n ...

. It runs approximately 18,000 Merino and Perendale sheep and about 800 beef cows. Glenfalloch Station, situated in the Headwaters of the Rakaia River, a working sheep and beef farm operating a small conference venue.

References in literature

*''

Erewhon ''Erewhon: or, Over the Range'' () is a novel by English writer Samuel Butler, first published anonymously in 1872, set in a fictional country discovered and explored by the protagonist. The book is a satire on Victorian society. The fir ...

'' – Samuel Butler's satire of Victorian society built around his experiences on a New Zealand

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

but put forward as a location in a fictional country. Butler also wrote ''A First Year in the Canterbury Settlement'' *''Station Life in New Zealand'' and ''Station Amusements in New Zealand'' by Lady Barker. *''Tutira: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station'' –

Herbert Guthrie-Smith William Herbert Guthrie-Smith FRSNZ (13 March 1862 – 4 July 1940) was a New Zealand farmer, author and conservationist. Life William Herbert Smith was born in Helensburgh, Scotland in 1862. His father was an insurance broker. In 1880 he emi ...

documents the effect of farming on the environment based on his first hand experiences as station owner. * ''A river rules my life'' Anderson, Mona ''A river rules my life'', (1963) – Mona Anderson wrote this classic book about life on a high country station. * ''High Country Family'' by Betty Dick, wife of MP Allan Dick

Notable stations

References in literature

See also

References

Further reading