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The Mamaku Ranges are a range of rugged hills in the North Island
of New Zealand. Located to the west of Lake Rotorua and north of
Lake Taupo, they lie to the immediate south of the Kaimai Ranges
and can be thought of as an extension of them, in much the same
way that the Kaimai Range itself could be considered an extension
of the Coromandel Peninsula. The hills terminate in the south
with the valley of the Waikato River. Extending from Karangakake Gorge near Paeroa, southward to the Mamaku Plateau, the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest Park gives protection to the rugged bush covered ranges for soil, water, ecological, scenic and recreational values. The range is extensively forested, with the Kaimai-Mamaku State Forest and Kinleith Forest both covering a considerable part of them. The forest includes Kauri trees growing at the far southern limit of their natural range.
Human activity throughout the ranges from early Maori to
the present has left a vast historical legacy including old Maori trails and sites, early coach routes, gold mining relics and logging remains, amongst others. At their highest, the Mamaku Ranges rise to over 600 metres, and much of the high ground within the hills forms a vast plateau, formed by volcanic ash flows (referred to as ignimbrites) from the eruptions that created Lake Rotorua, they provide layered aquifers within fractured rock and volcanic sand aquifers.Rainfall recharge moves rapidly through the surface sandy soils, and into the aquifers that discharges as springs to rivers at the edges of the plateau, such as the famous Blue Spring.
Waihou River
The history of the Waihou River, as a multi purpose focus for the people of the region, dates back to the time of the first human visitors. The river comes from as far up as the Ngatira Marae, which significantly marks the Eastern boundary of "Raukawa Ki Te Kaokaoroa o Patetere" and therefore the Northern boundary of the Ngati Raukawa.
It was a journeying place of King Te Wherowhero Tawhiao, the second Maori King of New Zealand, as it provided him with his main travelling route. The river gave him food and the flax was used for many purposes. Also, Kahupeka, a Tainui tupuna, set off with her son shortly after her husband's death to wander around the Central North Island. On her travels, the Upper Waihou River was one of the main rivers that her and her son crossed while travelling from Pirongia to Te Aroha, and again from Te Aroha to Whakamaru.
The river was an important thoroughfare and provided food and flax for local people and visitors alike.
In 1938 the Edmeades family settled and farmed the land alongside the Upper Waihou. They cleared much of the fern and manuka that previously clothed the riverbanks.
During WWII trenches were dug along the upper river due to fears of foreign invasion. They were never used and eventually were filled.
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