Tataraimaka ( Maori pronunciation, "Ta-ta-rai-ma-ka") is a rural coastal area in

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

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 predominantly a

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...

area, approximately south-west of

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

. Tataraimaka is located south of Oakura and north of Ōkato. The Timaru River passes through Tataraimaka on its way from Mount Taranaki. The area lies close to the Kaitake ranges at the foot of mount Taranaki, and consists of steep farmlands which overlook rolling pastures, intercepted by many creeks and rivers leading to the rocky, west coast shoreline. The area is well known for its beaches. Weld Road Beach is a popular surf beach with the locals. The area is becoming increasingly popular for people building lifestyle properties. There are many hiking tracks available to the public which traverse the

Kaitake Range The Kaitake Range, like the neighbouring Pouakai Range, is an eroded and heavily vegetated stratovolcano that formed during the Pleistocene epoch in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. Kaitake is the northwesternmost of the stratovolcanoes in t ...

. One of these treks is the Boars Head Mine track, which takes hikers to a historical gold mine. In pre-European times, the area was extensively settled, with more than 30

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...

sites found mainly on the shores of the Katikara River, Pitone Stream and Timaru River. One of the largest pā sites, Tataraimaka Pā, is a part of a historic reserve managed by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

. The pā was sacked by a party of northern

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

during the Musket Wars, shortly before 1820. The Tataraimaka Block of land was purchased from

in 1847, and was the location where 200 men of the 65th Regiment were stationed during the

First Taranaki War The First Taranaki War (also known as the North Taranaki War) was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori people, Māori and the New Zealand government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North ...

, from April to June 1860. By March 1861, the Tataraimaka Block had been taken by Māori forces, and had returned to government control in early 1865. Tataraimaka has a rich dairy farming history, with a historic dairy factory previously called the Timaru

Creamery A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream re ...

dating back to the nineteenth century.Tataraimaka"
in The Cyclopedia of New Zealand aranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts(1908), retrieved from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

website, 4 November 2015. In 2008, a local farmer re-opened the factory as the Patua Co-operative Dairy Factory to provide an alternative to the dairy giant

Fonterra Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by around 9,000 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exce ...

. Production of their organic Okato Cheese ceased due to financial difficulties in 2010. The former dairy factory is currently used to showcase rock carvings.Anthony, J.,
Sculpture adorns old dairy factory
, '' Taranaki Daily News'', 28 February 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2015. On 10 October 1998 the Timaru River flooded and tore through

Surf Highway 45 State Highway 45 (SH 45) is a New Zealand state highway which has the moniker of the ''Surf Highway'' due to the number of prominent surfing breaks that are accessible from it. It is two-line single carriageway for most of its length, wi ...

. The road wasn't re-opened until 19 October.

References

{{coord, 39, 10, S, 173, 55, E, display=title, region:NZ_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in Taranaki Surfing locations in New Zealand Black sand beaches