A spectacular Gorge

                      Text published Memories Magazine Issue 97 August / September 2012                     

        Photo courticy of the Palmerston North City Library Ref: 2007N-GO58-GOR-0708_v1

                           
    The Manawatu Gorge is 6.4 kilometres long, winding through the width of the Ruahine and Tararua ranges. Its Maori name is Te Apiti, which means  the narrow passage. A maori legend refers to the spirit Okatia that was trapped inside a Totara tree and, being restrained, it exploded causing the gorge to be formed. Another legend refers to a large reddish rock in the river, close to the centre of the gorge, as being a guardian spirit. This was a place where Maori stopped their canoes to say a  karakia ( prayer ) to enable them safe passage through the gorge.

 
    It is thought that the first European to travel through the gorge was pig and flax trader Jack Duff. Maori guided him down the river in 1830. The early walking tracks by the river were well trodden due to Maori carrying their canoes overland when the river was too low to paddle on. By1870 a more substantial bridle track had been developed for foot and horse traffic on the Tararua side of the river.

 
    In the same year, construction began on a railway line on the Ruahine range at the northern end; it was not fully completed until 1891. This was the last stage of the track built to link Hawke’s

  Courtesy of thr Palmerston North City Library Ref 2007N_Go5_EPN_0268-v1

                                
   Bay with the Manawatu. It incorporated five tunnels and an assortment of bridges. On pay nights, the eight hundred men who worked on the line raced into Woodville to drink at the club hotel riding on timber wagons drawn by horses. At the hotel there were betting groups, gambling on who would get to the finish first. The teamsters needed to have the horses unharnessed, watered and nose-bagged before they raced to the bar.

    George Ross began operating a toll-gate at the Woodville end in 1874; the fees were sixpence a hack, three pence each for cattle, one penny each for the first twenty sheep, and a halfpenny each thereafter. Passage for a horse and cart cost one shilling. Pigs were almost impossible to herd through the area, as there were so many opportunities for them to exit the road. However, one spirited young woman was recorded to have driven a herd through the gorge from Balance on many an occasions.

    Before a bridge was completed at the Ashhurst end  of the gorge in 1875, coach passengers crossed the river in an aerial cage. The cage was suspended seventy feet above the river on a wire. After the crossing, passengers continued their journey in another coach waiting to be boarded at the other side.

  Aerial tramway. Coursesy Palmerston City Library. Photographer: G.W. Shaile
1875-1880. Accession Number A 25/395           

             
     The gorge track had, by then, developed into a road fit for horse drawn vehicles and bullock teams, although overhanging rocks often scraped the top of tall coaches and wagon loads. Clefts were cut in the rock face for equestrians to wait while larger loads were allowed to pass.

    Courtesy of the Palmerston North City Library Ref 2007N_Ash3_EPN_0251-1.2.

     In April 1895, the bridge at the Ashhurst end of the gorge was completely washed away by heavy flooding in the region, and a punt began ferrying passengers and transport across the river. (The wooden bridge was not replaced until 1909.) In those early days, the area was often covered in fog for many days at a time. Landslips sometimes blocked the road and railway track causing truck, car and rail mishaps. Over the years, millions of pounds have been spent on manpower and machinery to clear these areas.    

On 1 May 1878, the Manawatu Times printed news of an accident; a stage coach had rolled on the gorge road. The Napier coach was travelling to Palmerston North with twenty-one adults and five children on board. The box seat was completely full and the whole of the inside of the coach was utilised. Two people lay on the luggage atop of the coach and sixon the seat behind. There was also a gentleman standing on the step, the best position to be when the coach rolled, as he was the first to vacate to safety. After consoling the passengers and horses, and putting the coach back on its wheels, the journey continued without further mishape.

  
    The worst train accident in the area transpired on 20 August 1946 when a KA951 hit a huge limestone boulder lying on the track. The locomotive rolled into the Manawatu river floodwaters and pulled several wagons with it. Driver Craig Head and Fireman Hosking both died, and the train was not fully retrieved for another four months.  

   1946 rail accident. Courtesy of the Palmerston City Library. Ref 2011G_ ELMAR-3_005390

                        

     In more recent times, the gorge area has seen a variety of recreational activities. The Department of Conservation has developed a walking track above the main road. The Woodville Lions Club organises regular walks on the rail track. Kayaking, picnicking, swimming, rock climbing and abseiling are also popular activities in the area. However in the 19^th of August 2011 the NZ Transport Agency was advising motorists that the Manawatu Gorge was to be closed again after a large slip. There was huge disruption to traffic and large cost to transport companies that continued until 16th of November 2012 when work on the gorge was finally completed. During this time traffic needed to use the longer and more arduous route over the saddle-road. 

    Beyond the bridge is the rustic cafe at the Balance end of the gorge, Timeless Horse Treks are nearby, and a road climbs to the Meridian Energy windmills and the Ashhurst Domain (at the opposite end of the gorge) offers camping facilities. The region boasts amongst its native flora, giant totara trees, and a multitude of birds singing harmonious chorus in the steep bushy hills. The Manawatu Gorge and surrounding area now belong to an inter-agency biodiversity project. On Track Transit, Ashhurst Action Group, Palmerston North City Council, Rangitaane, Tararua District Council, Horizons Regional Council and DOC all protect the native plants, birds and animals in the area. 

James Fagan

Palmerston North
New Zealand