Kakahi, New Zealand
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Kakahi ()) is a small
King Country The King Country ( Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and the town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of th ...
settlement about up the
Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...
from
Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kūiti and 55 km west of T ...
, New Zealand. Founded as a sawmill town, it takes its name from the
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 ...
word for the New Zealand freshwater mussel.


Geography

Kakahi can be reached from State Highway 4, and the
North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...
railway passes through it across a bridge over the Kakahi Stream; a
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
was open from 1904 to 1978. The
Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...
and Whakapapa River meet about to the east, and a similar distance down the Whakapapa River from the end of Te Rena Road (an old logging tram line). Te Rena Road is notable for extensive colonies of glowworms along the sheer banks where the road cuts deeply through the hillside.


History


Early history

Kakahi has a long history of
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 ...
settlement, and four fortified
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...
sites. In about the 15th century, Ngāti Hotu people were defeated here by Whanganui Māori in the battle of the five forts. In February 1862 James Coutts Crawford crossed the Whakapapa River and camped across from Terena.


20th century

Last century Kakahi was a
King Country The King Country ( Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and the town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of th ...
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
town, with four timber mills around the township, many
tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
lines for moving the timber (mainly
tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of Podocarpus, podocarp tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, ...
). Kakahi also had three churches, one
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
(burned to the ground), one
boarding house A boarding house is a house (frequently a family home) in which lodging, lodgers renting, rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, or years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and ...
and a
pool hall A billiard hall, also known as a pool hall, snooker hall, pool room or pool parlour, is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve alcohol and often ...
. The Kakahi Primary School closure had a serious impact on population numbers, the Kakahi General Store and post office, and the new Kakahi Hall. In 1906,
Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North ...
and the Tongariro Timber Company struck an agreement for the construction of a Kakahi to Pukawa railway line, connecting the main trunk line to the shores of
Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With ...
. This was in exchange for the milling rights of of land, and other considerations. Subsequently, in 1908 a case was put to the Stout Ngata Commission over the lack of action. By May 1929 this line had still not been built and the government acquired the Tongariro Timber Company. A road was deemed at being more viable. The Tongariro Timber Company railway land was finally disposed by the
New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...
in the Māori Purposes Act. In 1922 Te Rena School is closed. In 1923 Lake Falconer Ayson, Chief Inspector of Fisheries, visits the Kakahi hatcheries, to liberate half a million
Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...
fry into the
Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...
, Whakapapa River, Kakahi Stream, Punga Punga Stream and other tributaries. These fry were successfully hatched in the Kakahi hatchery by Mr. Bebbington.


Modern history

The Kakahi Town Hall was originally commissioned by one of the local timber milling businesses and was used as a silent movies cinema and dance hall. As such it still retains its piano, fireproof
Celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common present-day ...
film projection room and even has copper tubing in the ceiling for the "
white spirit White spirit (AU, UK and Ireland)Primarily in the United Kingdom and Australia. In New Zealand "white spirit" can also refer to Coleman fuel (white gas). or mineral spirits (US, Canada), also known as mineral turpentine (AU/NZ/ZA), turpentine sub ...
" internal lighting system. Other commercial buildings that remain in Kakahi that are no longer in their original use are the butcher, baker (complete with retired bread oven), original post-office and a blacksmith's stables. The Kakahi bakers were known for trucking their hot bread widely in the region, and even supplied many of the Bush Mills in the hills as far away as
National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
. The expression " The best thing since sliced bread" belies the fact that many small bakers could not afford the expensive
patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
(and sometimes unreliable) bread slicers. This was a contributing factor in the closing of bakers here. Kakahi has an iconic general store, one of the last few remaining general stores in New Zealand. It is run by Manu Lala, who is one of the cornerstones of the community. The store has been run by the Lala family since 1937. The Kakahi area is also noted for
trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...
.


Marae

Kākahi Marae and its Taumaihiorongo meeting house, built in 1913, are a meeting place for the
Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North ...
hapū of Ngāti Manunui. A
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
church, complete with a bell tower, stands on the edge of the marae. In October 2020, the Government committed $1,338,668 from the
Provincial Growth Fund Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party. Jones' political career began 2005 New Zealand general election, in 2005 as a l ...
to upgrade it and four other marae. Te Rena Marae and Hikairo meeting house, located near Kakahi, is a meeting place for the
Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua ( Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North ...
hapū In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...
of Ngāti Hikairo. In October 2020, the Government committed $1,560,379 to upgrade it and 7 other nearby marae.


Sports

The local sports teams are generally dressed in blue and gold. The Domain, a sports field to the north of the village, was the base of the Kakahi
field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
team, and regular
motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...
and the Kakahi
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
Club competitions in the 1970s, which raised funds for community activities. Around the Domain are the remains of a racing bicycle track, part of which was washed away during the 1950s flood.


Education

Kakahi School was opened in 1910 to account for an economic and industrial boom in the area. Kakahi School was a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students. In 2015, nine students were reported on the school roll, by 2016 there were zero students on the roll. Kakahi School officially closed April 15, 2016.


Notable people

*Keith Chapple (1944–2005), former Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand president. * Peter McIntyre (1910–1995), official New Zealand war artist in WWII, had a holiday house at Kakahi, and published a 1972 book of paintings entitled ''Kakahi New Zealand''.


References


External links

* orldwind://goto/world=Earth&lat=-38.93647&lon=175.38455&alt=4987&dir=-0.2 Kakahi Hall – NASA Satellite Image* orldwind://goto/world=Earth&lat=-38.93659&lon=175.38451&alt=576&dir=147.8&tilt=78.7 Composite Satellite/Radar Image of Kakahi with Mountains: Ruahehu, Tongarero and Ngarahoe in background {{Whanganui Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui Settlements on the Whanganui River Ruapehu District Ngāti Hotu