The Kaimanawa Range of mountains (often known as the ''Kaimanawas'') is located in the central

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-larges ...

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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. They extend for 50 kilometres in a northeast/southwest direction through largely uninhabited country to the south of

Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; mi, Taupō-nui-a-Tia or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of the Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's no ...

, east of the "Desert Road". Their slopes form part of the

North Island Volcanic Plateau The North Island Volcanic Plateau (often called the Central Plateau and occasionally the Waimarino Plateau) is a volcanic plateau covering much of central North Island of New Zealand with volcanoes, lava plateaus, and crater lakes. It contains t ...

. 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 s ...

gives a translation of "breath for food" for ''Kaimanawa''. The lands around the mountains are scrubby. To the west, where the Rangipo Desert is located, the soils are poor quality. To the east, the soils are more fertile, but the land is very rough. A feral horse, the

Kaimanawa horse Kaimanawa horses are a population of feral horses in New Zealand that are descended from domestic horses released in the 19th and 20th centuries. They are known for their hardiness and quiet temperament. The New Zealand government stric ...

. roams free on the ranges. Unlike the majority of mountain ranges in New Zealand, the Kaimanawa Range is divided into private land. Considerable areas of the Rangipo Desert are used by the

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for training.

Demographics

Kaimanawa covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². The very low population figure and rounding of numbers results in some odd figures in the census results. Kaimanawa had a population of 180 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sh ...

, an increase of 174 people (2900.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 123 people (215.8%) since the 2006 census. There were 0 households, comprising 177 males and 0 females. The median age was 47.3 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 0 people (0.0%) aged under 15 years, 27 (15.0%) aged 15 to 29, 126 (70.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 30 (16.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 60.0% European/

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New ...

, 48.3%

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 Co ...

, 5.0% Pacific peoples, 1.7% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 8.3, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 45.0% had no religion, 31.7% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

, 8.3% had Māori religious beliefs and 5.0% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 9 (5.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 51 (28.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $1,100, compared with $31,800 nationally. 3 people (1.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 42 (23.3%) people were employed full-time, 36 (20.0%) were part-time, and 9 (5.0%) were unemployed.

Kaimanawa Wall

Within the Kaimanawa State Forest area is the ''Kaimanawa Wall.'' The Tuwharetoa ''

tangata whenua In New Zealand, tangata whenua () is a Māori term that literally means "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people as a whole. Etymology Accord ...

'' claim an “oral tradition” of the place as a ''kōhatu'' (rock). A popular theory is that the wall is a human construction. From that popular theory, a

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

theory explains the wall as a pre-

civilization artifact. The wall formation was inspected by an anthropologist and a geologist; neither saw evidence of a human origin. In a preliminary investigation, anthropologist Neville Ritchie of the

New Zealand Department of Conservation The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand Conservation A ...

, observed "matching micro-irregularities along the joints." This indicated that the blocks in the wall were too perfectly matched. He also observed the joints were neither straight nor truly horizontal nor perpendicular, indicating the joint alignments were too poorly constructed. Ritchie concluded the blocks are a natural formation based on the presence of matching micro-irregularities in blocks and imperfect joint alignment. Peter Wood, of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences at Wairakei, inspected the blocks for an afternoon and concluded they are natural fractures in what Wood termed " Jointed- Rangitaiki-

Ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surro ...

," and described as "330,000 year old volcanic rock that is common in the

Taupō Volcanic Zone The Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) is a volcanic area in the North Island of New Zealand that has been active for the past two million years and is still highly active. Mount Ruapehu marks its south-western end and the zone runs north-eastward thro ...

." Both vertical and horizontal joints are common. Fractures in the Rangitaiki ignimbrite formed when it cooled and contracted after flowing into place during an eruption.

References

{{Coord, -39.223, 175.921, region:NZ-MWT_type:mountain, display=title Mountain ranges of New Zealand Taupō District Ruapehu District Rangitikei District Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui