Hutt Water Collection Area

The Akatarawa Valley is a valley in the Tararua Range of New Zealand's North Island. It provides a link from the upper reaches of the Hutt Valley to Waikanae on the Kāpiti Coast through rugged hill country. The valley is lowly populated and contains the localities of Reikorangi and Cloustonville. At the Hutt Valley end, the Akatarawa Valley is rugged and the Akatarawa River flows through it. The terrain is less difficult at the Kapiti end, where the Waikanae River flows through part of the valley on its route from its headwaters in the Tararuas to the Tasman Sea, and is met in the valley by tributaries such as the Ngatiawa River and the Reikorangi Stream. Many residents are craftspeople or gardeners, and some gardens are open for public viewing. Also located in the valley is a former Salvation Army youth and family camp that has been upgraded and now operated by the Wellesley Group, and Staglands Wildlife Reserve & Cafe, a conservation project established in 1972. It supports many native and rare birds, insects, and animals in conjunction with the New Zealand Department of Conservation. An early proposal for the North Island Main Trunk Railway's route out of Wellington featured a line deviating from the Hutt Valley Line portion of the Wairarapa Line and running through the Akatarawa Valley to the west coast; see Haywards–Plimmerton Line. This proposal was considered in the 1870s but abandoned when the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company chose a route directly out of Wellington via Johnsonville and Porirua. A railway through the Akatarawa Valley has not been seriously considered since this stage, though Price's Bush Tramway and other industrial tramways were built to serve private logging interests. The tramways and mills they served are now closed and little evidence remains of their existence.

Cloustonville is a small settlement in the Akatarawa Valley of New Zealand's North Island, north of Upper Hutt in the foothills of the Tararua Range. The 2006 New Zealand census recorded Cloustonville's population as 348, a rise of 24 people since the 2001 census.[1] A sawmill once operated in Cloustonville and it was served by a bush tramway.[2]

The Western Hutt River is a river of New Zealand. It flows generally southwards from the Tararua Range to join with the Eastern Hutt River and become the Hutt River, a major river of the southern North Island.

The May Morn Estates Tramway was a bush tramway at Mangaroa, which crossed the Hutt River at Te Mārua near Upper Hutt on New Zealand's North Island. The company was incorporated in 1912 and operated their saw mill at least from 1914 to 1915.

The Pākuratahi River, previously the Pakuratahi River, is a river of the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows northwest from its source in the Remutaka Range 15 kilometres (9 mi) east of Lower Hutt to join the Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River near Kaitoke. In December 2019, the approved official geographic name of the river was gazetted as "Pākuratahi River".The river formed part of a trail used by Māori linking Wellington Harbour and the Wairarapa over the Remutaka Range.

Kaitoke (sometimes called Pakuratahi), part of Upper Hutt City, is a locality in the southern North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the northern end of the Hutt Valley, 45 kilometres northeast of Wellington City and six kilometres from the northern end of the Upper Hutt urban area. It also lies at the southern end of the Tararua Ranges. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "eat worms" for Kaitoke.The "Puffer" tramping track providing access into the Tararua Forest Park climbs from Kaitoke onto and along the Marchant Ridge. This ridge is the part of the Tararuas that is prominently visible from Wellington. The Marchant Track has a side track leading to the Tauherenikau Valley. The end of the Marchant Ridge (after four hours of 'up hill, all the way, both ways') leads to Mount Alpha, and onto The Southern Crossing. The entire track to Alpha skirts the Hutt Water Collection Area. The first Youth Hostel in the North Island was established in the old Ministry of Works barracks at Kaitoke, which were behind the Post Office and alongside the Kaitoke Hall. The Post Office, the Hall, and the Youth Hostel were the only buildings of the settlement. Other facilities include a small airstrip operated by the Upper Valley Gliding Club for the purposes of gliding the area's thermals.The Pakuratahi River flows through the eastern Kaitoke Basin from its source in the Remutaka Ranges. The old route of the Wairarapa Line railway, which closed with the opening of the Rimutaka Tunnel in November 1955, ran from Upper Hutt via Maymorn to Kaitoke and around Goat Rock up the Pakuratahi to the Summit, and from there, because of excessive steepness, the Fell mountain railway system was used to aid trains on the Rimutaka Incline between Summit and Cross Creek. This railway is now the Remutaka Rail Trail. The Hutt River has its source to the north of Kaitoke, and much of the land in the vicinity is used as a water supply reserve. Filming, rafting, swimming and other human activity all take place downstream of the water intake. The nearby Kaitoke Regional Park was the filming location for exterior shots of Rivendell for the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Akatarawa Saddle is a 450 m above sea level mountain pass in the Wellington Region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is traversed by the Akatarawa Road which passes the southern part of the Tararua Range from Upper Hutt southeast to Waikanae northwest. The Akatarawa River flows south into the Hutt River ending in the Cook Strait while waters north of the saddle lead to the Tasman Sea. About 1911 surveys were made in the hope of finding a railway route between Upper Hutt and Waikanae, but a lengthy tunnel would have been needed, though the route was claimed to be about 5 mi (8.0 km) shorter than the North Island Main Trunk. Shortages of concrete delayed completion of the road, though it was drivable in 1922 and bridges were completed in 1923.

Karapoti Gorge is one of the entrances into the Akatarawa Forest, a regional park in the Wellington Region in New Zealand. The Akatarawa River West runs through this narrow, mostly bush-clad gorge towards the Akatarawa Valley. A narrow road winds its way along the steep slopes, providing access for trail biking, mountain biking and walking. Karapoti Gorge is also the starting leg of the annual Karapoti Classic mountain bike event, which runs on the network of tracks in the Akatarawa Forest.

The Little Akatarawa River is a river of the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is a tributary of the Akatarawa River, which it meets 5 kilometres (3 mi) northwest of Te Mārua.

The Wellington Naturist Club is a naturist resort located in Te Mārua, Upper Hutt, 38 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand. Its 4.7 hectares (12 acres) of land hold facilities including a miniature golf course, volleyball court, picnic areas, spa and sauna, and extensive rhododendron gardens, with a large hall for a clubhouse. For accommodation, the resort has four lodges and over 150 campsites. The Club was founded in 1950, under the name "Wellington Sun and Health Society".

Aston Norwood Gardens is a private garden and function centre/wedding venue north of Upper Hutt, New Zealand. It is accessible to the public for a fee and is most known for its cherry blossom trees.The gardens encompass 14 acres (5.7 ha) of rolling terrain along Remutaka Stream and were created in the late 1990s, formerly known as the "Kaitoke Country Gardens". The area was transformed from bare paddocks with only a few trees to a mature garden with around 400 cherry blossom trees, rhododendrons, and other flowering plants, a garden maze and two ponds connected by a small waterfall. The loosely Japanese-inspired garden holds its annual "Blossom Valley festival" every spring when the cherry blossom trees are in flower, typically from mid September to early October. At that time of the year, the garden is also open in the evenings and lit up after dark, in particular the cherry blossom trees. Most of the cherry blossom trees are of the variety Prunus × yedoensis 'Awanui', a variant close to the iconic pink yoshino cherry tree, chosen because it was available in New Zealand.Aston Norwood Gardens operates a function centre and wedding venue and also has a garden centre attached to it.

Price's Bush Tramway was a bush tramway built around 1903 near Akatarawa in the Tararua Range of New Zealand's North Island. It was built with a raised Fell third rail for braking the loaded trucks, as used by the Rimutaka Incline.