From the mountain to the sea...

Hawera, principal town of South Taranaki, is a farming centre with an assortment of secondary industries.

Its level setting, on the eastern fringe of the Waimate Plain, denies the town any obvious character but when neighbouring Mt Egmont is viewed from the water tower across jumbled rooftops, Hawera assumes a fresh perspective.

Hawera (or Te Hawera, 'the burnt place') takes its name from an incident in which an invading war party set fire by night to a large whare in which many warriors were sleeping. Those who escaped from the blaze perished to the taiaha and the mere.

General Chute's march:  During the Taranaki Campaigns of the 1860s General Chute, irked by the colonists' contempt for Regular troops who had refused to adapt to the bush techniques required to counter guerilla warfare, slashed his way into the area and established a base near the present town. Chute then began his epic march through dense bush to New Plymouth via Normanby and Stratford, along an ancient Maori trail. In six weeks he marched his men 420 kilometres from Wanganui to New Plymouth and back around the coast, capturing seven fortified pa and sacking 20 villages as he went, with very few casualties. The rugged going was made worse by a food shortage which drove the troops to eat several of their horses.

Chute's impetuosity led him to wreak more havoc than the situation required, but he did succeed in showing that Regulars could fight in the bush without the heavy equipment previously thought essential.

Ohawe Beach:  Some of the first moa bones discovered were found in 1844 at the mouth of the Waingongoro River. These were shipped to England where an accurate reconstruction was made of this remarkable bird, which was not unlike a giant emu. In the 1300s several species of moa roamed Taranaki. A moa skeleton is displayed in the Taranaki Museum, New Plymouth. At 6.5 km W, detour 2 km. Signposted.

Lake Rotorangi:  A 46-kilometre lake in a bush setting, created in 1984 when the Patea River was dammed for hydro-electric power. Cruises, fishing trips and house-boat holidays may be arranged (details from Information Centre in Hawera and Stratford). Access from SH3 at 10 km N of Patea. Also from Hawera and Eltham.