Waiouru

We have three petrol stations for the 700+ large lorries that drive through Waiouru every single second. There is a grocer' s, a barber's and a beauty salon in the Armed Forces' residential area two kilometers away, and a health center, a community service center, a café and a shopping mall are all within the Armed Forces' stock. Waiiouru is a civilian city, which grew up in cooperation with the New Zealand army camps and the ATG (Training Group), which is in charge of the education of recruitment and other warriors.

This desert highway just northern of Waiouru passes through the 870 km military exercise area, which is mainly situated eastwards of the Avenue. Irirangi Communication Base of the Royal NZ Navy with its giant antennas is located 2 km from Waiouru. The Desert Rd 1 section of State Highway 1 is situated just off Waiouru.

The town of Waiouru is located on the North Island Main Trunk Bahn, which ran through 1907. The Waiouru railroad stop is the highest stop (814 m) on New Zealand's network. This overlander no longer lives in Waiouru (from April 2005). In 1855, in the Waiouru region, in the Taupo region, Missionary Tom Grace took migrating migratory ewes to pasture on the Tusock area.

It was in 1871 that the goverment tried to rent these Tussoscks. However, first all landowners had to approve, which led to major delay as parts of the Murimotu Plain were used by all landowners in the area, Ngati Rangi (Karioi/Whanganui River) Te Ati Hau/Tuwharetoa (Taumarunui/Lake Taupo) and Ngati Whiti (Moawhango).

Borders had already been established in 1850 by a giant wanganui under the presidency of Wanganui misionary Richard Taylor, with most of Murimotu country being assigned to different hapus by Ngati Rangi, but no funds were at risk then, while John Studholme, whom the Wanganui herald described as "Canterbury-Landhai", had already grazed the countryside around Waiouru for three years.

Supported by the Auckland capitalist Moorhouse, Morrin and Russell, he had concluded a very illicit transaction in 1874 and leased the property for 21 years from Topia Turoa, who took possession of the entire country between Rangipo and Karioi through his wedding to Makarena Utaora of Ngati Rangi. Studholme's men brought bovine and ovine animals to the country in March 1874.

The construction of shelters, barns and barns in Karioi and shepherds' cabins in Waiouru began. The Studholme ring road tried to acquire the Topia estate permanently in January 1880 and sent surveying engineers to identify the precise border. The Ngati Rangi Group was enraged and cried out to Major Kemp for help.

Reactivating his troop of experienced gunslingers with whom he had led the Hauhau at the Battle of Moutua Island 16 years earlier, they ridden from Whanganui riverbank to Waiouru and then on another 10 km eastwards to the Auahitotara strategical highlands, where they started a sabre-rattling fire drill.

The Ngati Whiti in the town of Moawhango, 15 km to the west, have reactivated their own gunslingers. In 1884, a Maori missionsary mitigated the conflict before blood was shed, and in 1884 the Regional Court eventually gave property to each of the blocks of the now presumptuous Murimotu country to various Ngati Rangi hapues, although Studholme's Korean politics at Wellington permitted him to keep his tenancy for the remainder of 11 years.

However, it was a empty win for Studholme; although its cost was high, the cost of yarn fell when huge new shepherds went into operation in Australia. In 1893, the extreme coldness of the 1893 season, with heavy frost on the floor from Easter to October, slew 20,000 of his flock and abandoned the sun.

In the 1870', after in 1869, 30 km northeast of Waiouru on the course of Mr. Lyon near Kereru, vestiges of golden were found, packing was made. Gentle Annie Trail was used to bring the hundred tonnes of Murimotu to Napier and later the short but slipperier itineraries from Hales' and Field's to Wanganui.

As early as 1897 there was a stagecoach in Waiouru on the Napier-Taupo route. Railroads came in 1907, but not much yarn had been sent until then, as overeating by lambs had resulted in a rabbit scourge. In the 1930' no longer any ewes could be pastured at all at the Waiouru shepherd' s shelter.

Most of the Waiouru shepherds' lands were taken over by the government for the army camp in 1939. Around 1904 Alfred Peters established a post office, a shop and an inn in Waiouru for travellers and for the 500 men who dug up the gigantic railroad cutting 1 km westwards of Waiouru.

In 2007, Alfred Peters' offspring were still working in agriculture 100 years later eastwards of Waiouru. In 1939, Wally Harding began agriculture and the development of the Waiouru Dairy Farm by building the huge slices of tuskock country, which had been cultivated by a caterpillar hauler, and then covered with Svenska. Wallie's grandchild Lockie still runs Waiouru in 2014.

By the 1980' some military forces had been moved to Linton, and by 1990 the constant Waiouru resident populations had decreased to around 3000. Waiouru's populations fell to around 2000 in 2005 with the deployment of tank troops and continue to decline as surgeries are relocated to Linton Camp and Ohakea near by.

However, the army is expecting a series of further training sessions to be held in Waiouru. Royal New Zealand Air Force uses the closed Waiouru Airfield (ICAO Cod NZRU) just outside the training ground for training landing of C-130 Hercules airlifters and Jameson Field within NH-90 and A-109 area.

The Radio Intercept Station 2 km north of Waiouru was operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II as Waiouru W/T Station and from 1951 as HMNZS Irirangi. It has now been superseded as the Intercept Station. Waiouru College, 27 km away in Ohakune, is the closest grammar schools.

Archer, J.H. 2009, The Murimotu Time Travellers Club, article in Waiouru Tussock, compressed from recent news on the PapersPast website. Arthur, P.M. 1984, Waiouru, Land of the Tussock, 1935-40. 1941 Croom, F.G., The story of the Waiouru military camp. The Waiouru Tussock Lands, NZ Jnl of Ag, July 16, 1956.

In the NZ Army letter - Waiouru Land Acquisition, 1987 - writers not known.