Not for the faint hearted - Rimutaka Hill

The Rimutaka Hill – that windy narrow road which crawls up and over the Rimutaka ranges strikes fear into some travellers hearts.  It is the only road route over the Rimutaka Ranges, travelling from the Hutt Valley side of the ranges  to the Wairarapa Plains.  At the summit the road is 555m above sea level, and in winter the road can often be shrouded in mist, and can be closed due to snow fall and gale force winds.  Warnings are often issued to those travelling on motorbikes, or high sided vehicles.  For caravan owners like us, towing a caravan in high wind conditions can be both dangerous and frightening.  But for those locals used to the vagaries of the Rimutaka Hill, on a good day, with the sun shining, and little wind to contend with, it can be quite a pleasant trip “over the hill”.  There was plenty of action to see and large earthmoving machines to photograph on our recent road trip.  (Wonder why it is Jenny who loves to see these big machines and not Robin?)

Playing in the dirt

We stopped at the summit to look back at the road works already done on the Hutt side of the hill road.  Corners have been cut back from the hill side and the spoil used to build new parts of the road.  The expected 3 year project is coming along well,  realigning  the notorious Muldoon's Corner and taking out a few other kinks. 

Views from the top of the hill

An unassuming monument from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust is placed at the summit.  It tells of an intrepid journey back in 1841 when a party of settlers led by two Maori guides made the first European crossing  of the Rimutaka Range into the Wairarapa.  In those early days the ranges were densely covered by huge towering native trees, making travel very slow and arduous.

Monument at the summit

Travellers in the early 1850s came across the Rimutakas on a narrow and dangerous track.

Photo courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library

These days the trip over the hill takes about half an hour, nothing like the arduous trek of yesteryear by foot, horseback, and as the track gradually widened, by slow, creaking bullock cart.  We tend to take the car and modern roads for granted now, don’t we.