Tauweru, alternatively Taueru, and previously known as Wardell,Sharpe, Marty, 6 July 2002

, ''Wairarapa Times-Age''. or WardelltownResults of the New Zealand Census, 28 March 1886

/ref> is a locality in the Wairarapa region of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is named after and located on the middle reaches of the

Tauweru River The Tauweru River, sometimes called the Taueru River, is a river in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North Island. It drains from the pastoral eastern highlands of the Wairarapa and joins the Ruamahanga River just north of the Gladstone Roa ...

, which drains into the

Ruamahanga River The Ruamahanga River runs through the southeastern North Island of New Zealand. The river's headwaters are in the Tararua Range northwest of Masterton. From there it runs firstly south and then southwest for before emptying into the Cook Str ...

near

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

and Te Whiti, and the name is a Māori-language word meaning "hanging in clusters". Tauweru is situated east of the Wairarapa's largest town,

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

, and is located on the main road between Masterton and

Castlepoint Castlepoint is a small beachside settlement on the Wairarapa coast of the Wellington Region of New Zealand. It is home to a lighthouse which stands near the top of the northern end of a reef. The reef is about one kilometre long. At the south ...

. The nearest

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 ...

is the Wairarapa Line in Masterton. In June 1942, Tauweru was the epicentre of one of the most destructive

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

s since European settlement of the Wairarapa in the mid-19th century.

Demographics

Tauweru is part of the

Whareama Whareama is a rural area in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. The Whareama River flows through the area. Marae The community has two ''marae'' affiliated with the Ngāti Kahungunu ''hapū'' of Ngāi Tumapuhia-a-Rangi: Mot ...

statistical area.

References

Populated places in the Wellington Region Masterton District {{Wellington-geo-stub