Wise woman is what the word “Ruahine” means in Maori. I am not really sure why Ruahine mountain range is named this way, but it is, and this is a very beautiful place.

Ruahine ranges run for 110 kilometers from inland Hawke’s Bay to near Woodville. The highest point in the Ruahines standing at 1733 meters is Mangaweka.

Ruahine Forest Park together with adjacent parks form an almost continuous chain of protected lands along the central North Island ranges, providing high rainfall events reaching an annual rainfall of about five meters. Four large rivers originate from the park – Rangitikei, Ngaruroro, Manawatu, and Tukituki.

Park has a very diverse vegetation. Top of the ranges, above the forest, is covered with leatherwood scrub and herb field grasslands, with red and mountain beech below it in the north and a mixture of forest and scrub with open tussock in the south.

The description you just read was a very short and objective one, giving mostly the facts about the Ruahine ranges. But there is much, much more to the Ruahines than those naked facts, and I know a person who can describe the Ruahines much better than me.

Rob Kloss moved from United States to New Zealand back in 1993 and now lives in Palmerston North. His passion to the Ruahines is very addictive and if you like hiking, you will definitely like reading his blog Ruahine Ramblings in which he mainly writes about his hikes in the Ruahines.

If you really want to get a feeling of this magical places you definitely should read Rob’s blog. But before you go on to reading about all the natural beauty of Ruahines, I must tell you that it might not last for long, as there is a danger coming to this land.

In my next article I will write about this danger and how all of you can help preventing it from happening! Stay tuned.

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