An easy to moderate 46-kilometre one day ride on the picturesque east coast hill country of the Wairarapa, passing historic sheep and cattle stations, and riding through the valley of the Pahaoa River. Shuttles are provided for people and bikes from Pahaoa Station back to Martinborough at the end of the ride. The next ride is scheduled for Friday 12th March, 2021 – assembling of bikes starting at 8.30am 16 Kitchener Street Martinborough with the ride parting at 9am. A shuttle from Martinborough to the top of the Hinakura hill is available on request.
This ride is a one-day ride of about 46 kilometres, on tar seal for about 50% and gravel (unsealed) for 50%, all on low traffic roads. There is one serious hill climb of about 300 meters, the Hinakura Hill. A shuttle from Martinborough to the top of the Hinakura hill is available on request. Lunch will be on the Pahaoa River at about the half way mark.
Please make sure your bike is in good order before the ride, and in particular your chain, brakes and gear change are in good working order. If you have a hire bike please make sure you are familiar with how to use the bike effectively before you set out. Ask a guide to help familiarise you with the bike if required.
The tail end rider will be a Green Jersey Guide or shuttle who will carry an EPIRB, because we are out of cell phone coverage for much of this ride. If you need assistance from a guide, either wait until one rides through, or proceed back west up the road until you meet with a Green Jersey Guide or the shuttle. The EPIRBs are for life threatening emergencies only. Riders should stop to group up periodically, to ensure there is not too large a gap between the lead riders and the tail end.
If you have an Emergency Locator Beacon (EPIRB) then bring it with you. The ride is on terrain that is completely out of cell phone coverage. If you feel you personally may be at risk of a life-threatening event, we suggest that you buy your own EPIRB (cost is about $550) or rent one for the day ($10) from Kitchener’s in Martinborough or Hunting and Fishing in Masterton.
A 46-kilometre ride from Martinborough out via the Hinakura and Pahaoa Roads, which is quite scenic. We pass several well-known back country stations such as Tablelands (ex Riddiford), Hikawera, Bush Gully, Aotea, Mount Adams, Moy Hall, Ngaipu, Peninsula, Kaikaikuri, Glendryneoch and Glendhu – all with quite romantic names and long histories dating back to colonial times. We climb and descend the Hinakura Hill, before following the true right bank of the Pahaoa River to the coast. There was once a small town planned for where the Hinakura hall now is. The very fit may choose to ride from Martinborough or at some point on the journey to Pahaoa.
This ride is through the east Wairarapa Hill Country. These hills are formed or recent marine deposits off the east coast of the Wairarapa being “scraped” off the Pacific plate as it subducts underneath the Australian Tectonic plate. We see interglacial terraces formed by the coming and going of the sea due to the coming and going of ice ages, combined with intervening tectonic uplift. This is geologically young country, most of what we ride through was under the sea less a than 1 million years ago. The harder remnants of the sandstone layers deposited under the sea now stand tall as the “Taipo” or sharp peaks.
To the south we can see the Te Awaiti taipo, and to the north Summer Hills and Mount Adams and “The Admiral”.
Pahaoa Station – was referred to as “Pahawa”, the site of a permanent Maori village by the early missionary, William Colenso, and visited on his 10 walks around the Wairarapa coast and valley in the 1840’s. Colenso was intent on converting the Maori to Anglican Christianity, including some “Papists” (catholic) Maori who must have already encountered Catholic Missionaries elsewhere. The Cameron family started farming here in about 1877, leasing land from the Local Maori. Their descendants still farm here today, with Manuka honey and game hunting now being an important component of farm income. The Maori name Pahaoa probably refers to a great place for catching fish.
Te Awaiti Station (originally comprising most of the land to the south of the Pahaoa Road) is owned by Dan Riddiford who is the 5th generation of Riddiford’s to own this property. This property is over 6000 hectares or 16,000 acres, much of it covered by bush or scrub. It is still in the original title from the purchase in 1870 includes the foreshore. This is sometimes called a “blue water title”. Dan restricts access to his coast to protect it and also because people getting into trouble often need to call on the station for assistance. Station income is from sheep, beef, deer, Manuka Honey, Forestry and professional hunting.
Dan’s great-great grandfather, also Daniel, immigrated to New Zealand in 1840 with a position of “Emigration Agent” with the NZ Company, helping the new immigrants get started after landing at Petone Beach. In about 1846 Daniel started farming at Orongorongo, on the south coast between Wellington and Wairarapa. In 1848-49 he arranged the Maori lease of the Te Awaiti Block on the East Coast, estimated, at the time of issue of the formal Crown licence six years later; to then include about 30,000 acres. He purchased the station, which incorporated Tora, Lagoon Hill and Pukeatua stations from the crown in 1870. The Riddiford family went on to build one of the largest farming empires in New Zealand. Dan is now the last Riddiford who is actively farming. In farming lexicon, a “Run” when fenced in paddocks becomes a “Station”.
One of New Zealand’s more famous murders happened at Coles Creek on Te Awaiti Station. In 1904 scrub cutter James Ellis was accused of shooting his former boss Leonard Collinson, after Collinson fired him for killing a red deer without permission. Ellis evaded authorities for 10 months. He was captured at what is now called Ellis or Murderers Hut, in the Ruahine Range. Ellis was found guilty & hanged.
The Riddiford also owned Tablelands Station about 5km from Martinborough on the Hinakura road until late in the 20th Century. Stock would come from Lagoon Hill Station (which was originally part of Te Awaiti Station) via Cannock Road. We pass the old Riddiford homestead on the left before the “Popes Head” bridge, so called because it looks vaguely like a Popes Head on a Map.
The Coastal Platform
The rugged east coast is formed by the collision of the Pacific tectonic plate with the Australian Tectonic plate. The resulting Hikurangi trench reaches depths of 3,000 metres as close as 80 kilometres from the shore.
Hinakura – There was once a village settlement planned for Hinekura, but all that remains now is the Hall and some strange title lines on the district map.
The Pahaoa River – has become somewhat of a beacon river for the conservation movement. Declining water quality is a reality we have all been witnessing for some decades. Rivers and streams that once were an abundant resource, have had a dramatic degradation in health and productivity. Lakes that we enjoyed swimming in are now green with algae or brown with sediment. This was the case for the Pahaoa River that runs around RiverWatch founder Grant Muir’s farm in Hinakura, in the Wairarapa. In 2002, it was alive and thriving. Ten years later in 2012, the river was dead and devoid of aquatic life.
The story of their struggle to save the river compelled James to make the documentary film River Dog,
which went on to win multiple awards around the world. The critical success of the documentary, and the attention it gained for the Pahaoa River, lead James and Grant to explore more ways in which they could help reverse the decline of freshwater quality in Aotearoa. In 2012 they set up the not-for-profit company WAI NZ – Water Action Initiative New Zealand.