The
Manawatu Gorge
The Manawatu Gorge is result of
thousands of years of land uplift and river scouring, and one of the main East/West
links in the North Island for both State Highway 3 and the
Railway use this divide carrying the Manawatu River.
The Department of Conservation
has a walking track on south side, over the top of the Tararua ranges,
through the bush, with some view of the
wind
farms. At the eastern end is the Balance reserve and picnic
area. Here you'll find the "Beyond the Bridge" cafe. At the
western end is the
Ashhurst Domain and river access - and the Cafe
Domain.
Once a year,
the Woodville Lions Club organise the very popular
Track & Tunnel walk, walking the length of the gorge on the railway
tracks and through the tunnels. Numbers are limited, and are by ticket only.
The
ADO webteam does not have a 2010 date yet.
Click this link for images from the
Woodville Lions Club Track & Tunnel Walk 2008..Click here for an old Railway Line / Steam Train Postcard.
Postmarked 1910.
Manawatu Gorge tours
offer jet boat sightseeing packages on the
Manawatu River. See
their website for other packages and accommodation.
These are reasonable
fishing grounds, with Trout in both Manawatu and Pohangina rivers.
If you need assistance,
Manawatu Fly Fishing can help you out here.
Click here
for contact information.
For information about
climbing opportunities in the gorge
click here
The Department of Conservation has a fact sheet about
the gorge -
Click
here to view it
The Saddle Road
Provides an alternate
'north of the gorge' National Highways route to the Hawkes bay
when the Manawatu Gorge is closed, through farmland with good views of the Pohangina
Valley, Ashhurst, The Wharite TV transmission mast, the Manawatu
plains, Palmerston North, and then Northern Wairarapa and Southern
Hawkes Bay, with the towns of Napier, Hastings Woodville, Dannevirke,
Pahiatua and Masterton on the eastern side. The road takes
you between the windmills of the Meridian Energy
Wind farm,
with views to some of the Tararua Ranges and the wind farm there.
Viewing area and information board on the top of the range.
The old Saddle Road bridge was washed away in the
February 2004 floods
and the new bridge was opened in July 2006. A combined Palmerston
North City Council, Tararua District council and Tranzit NZ Project.
The new Saddle Road bridge across the Pohangina
River.
Wharite
The Wharite communications building and tower is owned and operated
by
KORDIA (was BCL ). Prominent and with
awesome
views (on a good day) in the Manawatu, Wairarapa and the southern Hawkes Bay, this is
the site for
TVNZ's
transmitter, Tararua TV's transmitter and several other local radio station transmitters.
Please Note that access is
by steep, narrow, often rough and uneven gravel road from the Woodville
side of the Ruahine rangers. Take extreme care when using
it.
Telecom NZ,
the NZ Police,
TV3,
TV4 and
SKY
also use this mast for broadcast and communications.
Wharite in the summer evening sunlight
Along the northern Tararua Range, between the Manawatu gorge at the
Balance and the Pahiatua Track, is North Range Road and South Range
Road.. This is a public access road, but not one you would want to
take your family car along. Good for cyclists and 4 WD and
off-road motorbikes. There is an
article about the track a written from a cyclists
point of view below.
