he
King Country is named after the movement King Tawhiao led last
century to resist alienation of Maori land. After the movement's
failure, he and his followers sought refuge in the remoter parts
of this region and for a time thereafter Pakeha ventured into
the King Country at their peril. Although the King Country now
has several substantial towns, beyond them a sense of isolation
persists in what is some of the North Island's wildest terrain.
Because of suspicion of Pakeha intentions it was not until the
turn of this century that Pakeha settlement and farming of the King
Country really began and it was the completion of the North Island
main trunk line in 1908 that accelerated this development.
After the First World War, thousands of servicemen came home looking
for land, but only rugged forested areas such as the King Country
were available. They were entitled to an advance of £5000 to buy
land and a further £1000-£2000 to develop it, but this proved inadequate
for many attempting to settle in the King Country. The geographer
Kenneth Cumberland best summed up their plight when he wrote:
Many of the buyers and lessees in this frantic rush for
land found themselves on rough hill country, in virgin bush,
remote, isolated and without roads. Many of the soldier-settlers
were underequipped, undercapitalised and lacking in experience,
on land overvalued and heavily mortgaged. And all were relying,
without question, on a continuation of boom prices for what
they hoped to be able to produce.
The collapse of prices for primary produce in 1921, combined with
the high cost of loan repayments, and those of keeping the cleared
land free of regenerating bush and fertilised, were in the end the
downfall of many would-be farmers. Large areas of land were abandoned
and although there was a resurgence of interest after the Second
World War, when the advent of aerial topdressing greatly reduced
development costs, farming in much of the King Country has never
been economically viable.
Hone Tuwhare best captures the essence of the backcountry in this
poem:
Deep scarred
not by wind ravaged nor rain
nor the brawling stream
stripped of all save the brief finery
of gorse and broom; and standing
sentinel to your bleak loneliness
the tussock grass.
Driving south, Otorohanga is the first main town you will see,
29 kilometres from Te Awamutu on State Highway 3. It boasts the
Kiwi House and Native Bird Centre (on Kakamutu Road) where you can
be sure of seeing a kiwi in the excellent nocturnal house. This
centre has made a name for itself by successfully breeding kiwi
and it has exported these to several countries. To date, this is
the only place that the great spotted kiwi or roa has ever been
bred.
The park also has one of the best collections of native fauna in
the country. Besides the nocturnal house there is a large walk-through
aviary where tui, kereru and other birds can be seen flying around.
There is also a good collection of native reptiles, and a breeding
complex for the blue duck.
