Kaitoke

The upper Stuart Macaskill reservoir.

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.

Climate

Climate data for Kaitoke (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1966–1998)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	29.0 (84.2)	30.4 (86.7)	29.0 (84.2)	26.0 (78.8)	21.6 (70.9)	17.9 (64.2)	19.0 (66.2)	17.2 (63.0)	22.1 (71.8)	22.6 (72.7)	26.1 (79.0)	28.7 (83.7)	30.4 (86.7)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	20.6 (69.1)	21.3 (70.3)	19.4 (66.9)	17.0 (62.6)	14.6 (58.3)	11.8 (53.2)	11.6 (52.9)	12.1 (53.8)	13.6 (56.5)	15.2 (59.4)	16.8 (62.2)	19.1 (66.4)	16.1 (61.0)
Daily mean °C (°F)	15.9 (60.6)	16.2 (61.2)	14.4 (57.9)	11.9 (53.4)	10.1 (50.2)	7.9 (46.2)	7.4 (45.3)	7.6 (45.7)	9.4 (48.9)	10.6 (51.1)	11.9 (53.4)	14.5 (58.1)	11.5 (52.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	11.2 (52.2)	11.0 (51.8)	9.3 (48.7)	6.8 (44.2)	5.5 (41.9)	3.9 (39.0)	3.2 (37.8)	3.1 (37.6)	5.1 (41.2)	5.9 (42.6)	7.0 (44.6)	9.8 (49.6)	6.8 (44.3)
Record low °C (°F)	0.8 (33.4)	−2.0 (28.4)	−3.5 (25.7)	−4.6 (23.7)	−4.4 (24.1)	−6.5 (20.3)	−5.7 (21.7)	−6.3 (20.7)	−4.0 (24.8)	−3.9 (25.0)	−2.5 (27.5)	−1.0 (30.2)	−6.5 (20.3)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	116.8 (4.60)	133.9 (5.27)	131.7 (5.19)	178.9 (7.04)	120.8 (4.76)	210.3 (8.28)	237.5 (9.35)	210.8 (8.30)	202.6 (7.98)	300.6 (11.83)	235.7 (9.28)	148.1 (5.83)	2,227.7 (87.71)
Mean monthly sunshine hours	223.4	184.5	159.7	140.4	100.0	62.0	84.3	102.2	119.1	157.8	150.7	177.4	1,661.5
Source: NIWA (sun 1981–2010)[3][4]

References

1. "1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.
2. "Upper Valley Gliding Club". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
3. "CliFlo – National Climate Database : Ohakune Ews". NIWA. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
4. "CliFlo -The National Climate Database (Agent number: 3460)". NIWA. Retrieved 5 Jun 2024.

41°5′0.5″S 175°10′3″E