Tataraimaka ( Maori pronunciation, "Ta-ta-rai-ma-ka") is a rural coastal area in Taranaki, New Zealand. It is predominantly a dairy farming 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, 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 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 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