3.5 MILLION YEARS AGO
(APPROXIMATELY)
The Tuki Tuki Valley, Te Mata Peak and Te Weka were fairly shallow submerged ridges. Over the millennia this allowed the slow but steady build-up of Sealife that has resulted in the spectacular fossil-rich rocks and cliff faces we see today.
Over time a significant series of tectonic plate collisions created the peaks and valleys and set the bed for what is now the Tuki Tuki River.
TANGATAWHENUA
Centuries before European settlement, this valley and surrounding peaks were already of significant importance to Ngati Kahungunu. They provided significant lookouts, shelter, timber and food sources. The Tuki Tuki Valley with the powerful backdrop of the eastern facing slopes of Te Mata peak remain significant Taonga to Tangatawhenua to this day.
1899
Ngati Kahungunu performing haka powhiri
17th – 18th CENTURY
Te Weka Whareupoko was a proud and forceful warrior of this area. In fact he was the sole survivor of a particularly fierce battle that ensued at his Pah site believed to be somewhere near where the Red Bridge Café is now. He was raised from childhood to learn to respect and protect this spectacular landscape and all its natural resources. His bloodline continues in the people of Mihiroa and Waimarama to this day. And now his name also continues appropriately as the name of this spectacular site that looks out across all that he fought so hard to protect.
1887
Crossing the Tuki Tuki River 1887
1996
Radiata pines were planted right across the steep north facing slopes of Te Weka (known as The Craggy Range) by Carter Holt Harvey Forests. Too steep for practical farming, this dark green blanket of pines dominated the range to the skyline for nearly 30 years.
PRESENT DAY
The land was purchased by the current owners in 2021, and the meticulous and time-consuming process of returning the range to its original state began. The pine trees have been felled, a roadway put in to carefully follow the contours of the land, sites have been identified, walking and biking tracks established.
TOMORROW
The steady planting of literally thousands of native and exotic trees has been underway for a number of years with the vision of tomorrow being a completely regenerated natural bush environment full of life and energy. One day we might even have Weka take up residence at Te Weka.