WAIRARAPA LINKS

The links below are intended to assist visitors by highlighting websites of interest covering both the area around Washpool and the Wairarapa as a whole.

Please click on the text link to move to the link, or click on the window icon (at left) to open the link in a new window.

Aorangi Forest Park near to Washpool is popular with recreational hunters and trampers. It also offers short walks with spectacular views. The park and surrounding area features some of New Zealand’s most striking landforms. They include: high slabs of rock known as Kupe’s Sail and the coastal Whatarangi Bluff. At Cape Palliser, the southern coastal boundary of the park, there is a fur seal colony, a historic lighthouse and archaeological sites.

Link last reviewed on: 15-02-2010

	Featherston is located at the foot of the Rimutaka Hill on State Highway 2.
	Link last reviewed on: 20-02-2010

	Fell Locomotive Museum is a world renowned tourist attraction in Featherston featuring the fascinating history of the Rimutaka Incline, which formed the rail link between Wellington and the Wairarapa until October 1955, and its Fell locomotives. Open seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Closed Christmas Day and Anzac Day morning [25 April]).
	Link last reviewed on: 20-02-2010

	Lake Wairarapa Wetlands These wetlands, a short distance North of Washpool, are the largest wetland complex in the southern North Island, supporting native plants and animals of national and international importance. The area offers many activities, including game bird hunting, fishing and bird watching. Parts of Lake Wairarapa and the nearby Ruamahanga River are used for boating and yachting.
	Link last reviewed on: 20-02-2010

Martinborough is located at centre of one of New Zealand's wine areas a short distance from Washpool. Martinborough was named after John Martin (1822-92), an Irish immigrant who purchased the large Wairarapa sheep station 'Huangarua' in 1879. Martin subdivided the station into 593 sections to create a town just north of the existing settlement of Waihenga. The street names such as Venice, Panama, Suez and New York and the central square and streets laid out in a Union Jack pattern, were inspired from a world tour by Martin. Since the 1880s the town has grown to become a service centre for the large lower Wairarapa sheep stations and more recently the wine industry. Each February and March since 1977 Martinborough has hosted the popular annual fairs organised by the South Wairarapa Rotary Club. The town also hosts the large annual 'Toast Martinborough' wine and food festival.

Link last reviewed on: 20-02-2010

	Pinnacles Track. The eerie scenes in the final Lord of the Rings film, The Return of the King, as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli ride along the Dimholt Road to meet the Army of the Dead were filmed against the surreal backdrop of the Pinnacles a short distance from Washpool..
	Link last reviewed on: 16-02-2010

	The Ruamahanga River is excellent trout fishing water close to Washpool. This link to NZ Fishing provides further information.
	Link last reviewed on: 20-02-2010