Wairarapa

Maori legend says the South Island was Maui's boat from which he hooked Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui) or the North Island. According to the same legend, Palliser Bay is the mouth of the fish and Lake Wairarapa is its eye.

Archeological sites in Palliser Bay, including cultivation areas and stone walls, indicate the area was inhabited in 1000 AD. The famous explorer Kupe is said to have spent much time in the Bay, and many physical features are connected to his story. The Maori people of Wairarapa are of mainly Ngati Kahungunu and Rangitane extraction.

The plains of Wairarapa were covered in totara forest until 1600 when a fire destroyed much of it.

European Arrival

In 1839, the first Europeans were greeted with a view from the Tararua Ranges of a pasture- and tussock-covered land intertwined with rivers and lakes. It took until 1841 for Europeans to actually enter and explore the southern Wairarapa region via the Rimutakas.

Sheep Stations and Farmers -- The first flock of sheep was driven around the southern coast from Wellington in 1844 to establish New Zealand's first sheep station. Much of the farming was carried out at isolated outposts such as Castlepoint and Akitio, where wool was rowed out to ships for transport to Wellington. Travellers made their way from Wellington to Hawke's Bay around the eastern coastline.

The Small Farms Association, with the support of Governor George Grey, then purchased land from the Maori to establish first Greytown and then Masterton in 1853. Early settlers had to push their belongings in barrows over the Rimutaka Bullock Track from Wellington until the road was opened in 1856.

Scandinavian Arrival and Forest Clearing -- During the early 1870s, Scandinavian settlements were developed in the "Seventy Mile Bush" of north Wairarapa. Many of today's residents can trace their ancestry back to Scandinavia.

1877 saw the completion of one of the world's steepest railways, the 1 in 15 gradient Rimutaka Incline, which linked Wairarapa to Wellington by rail.

In recent times, aerial top dressing was pioneered in Wairarapa and agriculture has since remained the mainstay in the local economy. The industry includes sheep, cattle and horse studs as well as deer farming, forrestry, viticulture, mushroom cultivation, organic farming, and hydroponics. Emerging activities are emu and ostrich farming, floriculture, ulong tea growing and New Zealand's first wind farm. Wairarapa communities have always lived, and largely still do "live off the land."