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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 11, Issue 9 (December 1, 1936)

Manawatu Gorge as it Was

Manawatu Gorge as it Was.

In a recent article I gave a hitherto unpublished description of a canoe voyage by Sir Donald Maclean and a Maori canoe party through the Manawatu Gorge in 1850. A further note in Maclean's MS. mentions that the gorge was called Te Au-nui-o-Tonga (“The Great Current of the South”). Apparently it might also have been called Te Hau nui o Tonga (“The Great Wind of the South”) judging from Maclean's description of the gale which often blows through that funnel in the mountains; “The wind passes through the gorge with all the fierceness of a December day at home (Scotland) that would unroof houses, root up trees and cause the forlorn sailor to look for shelter on some castaway shore. The hills on each side are cleft, lofty and high; with rata trees opening up their blossoms, and the rich green line of fern brake, and the tui, with chirping and nimbleness, the tenant of the groves. It is like a halfway house to Paradise!”

That was eighty-six years ago. It is a sadly spoiled avenue to Paradise to-day.