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Matawai 1908 - Now
Matawai is located on the upper reaches of the Motu River on State Highway 2 between Gisborne and Opotiki at an altitude of 540 m. Life in the small settlement centres on agriculture.
Farming developed in the district once bush began to be cleared in the late 1800s. Settlers cleared it with axe as well as fire, and charred stumps make for a stark backdrop to images of Matawai during this time. Rail and roadway builders, sawmill workers and their families also lived in and around Matawai.
Around the time students first began to attend Matawai School in 1908, the little village of Matawai was growing. Sections for the Matawai township were surveyed and made available for sale in 1912. By the 1920s it was a thriving township and boasted street lights and a railway station receiving several trains a day. Some reports say there were up to six general stores in Matawai around this time.
Dairy farming became established in the district once the railway began operating. Dairy farmers separated the cream from the milk and sent it to Gisborne for butter making while the skim milk was fed to pigs.
Farming took on greater momentum during the next few decades. More farmers joined the district, stock was purchased and homesteads were built. In the 1950s the Government’s rehabilitation scheme to get ex-servicemen and women into work began to take effect and power and telephone were connected in the area. Sheep and beef cattle farming were the main types of agriculture. The volcanic soils of the district require regular application of fertiliser and so numerous airstrips were established in the district between the 1950s and 60s. Around this time Matawai Marae on Motu Road was developed. The idea of establishing the Marae came about when a small but dedicated group of local people began meeting and fundraising. The whare moe is the former Matawai CWI building. It was moved to the Motu Road site in 1981 and paved the way for the opening of the meeting house. Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/Matawai.Marae/ Like the rest of rural New Zealand, Matawai blossomed during the fifties and sixties. Farming families grew alongside livestock and as original farmers retired some of their children and grandchildren took over the properties. Others sold to neighbours enabling larger, more economic units to be created.
Following the closure of the railway in 1958 dairy farming ceased in the district. However dairy farming made a return in 2009 with milk being transported by road for processing.
Most land owners today are still sheep and beef farming but alongside the return of dairying, there are now deer and goats being farmed.
As always with land use at the centre of a community’s economy, agricultural contractors and their families are a mainstay in the area. Robb Brothers Matawai Transport company has been around for over a century.
Matawai village itself has flourished and diminished over the years in line with social, agricultural and economic trends. At different times over the century, Matawai village has had a cobbler, a railway station, sale yards, a post office, a hotel, general stores, a telephone exchange and a butcher. Nowadays the village features a petrol station, PGG Wrightson Matawai http://pggwrightson.co.nz/ for farm supplies, camp ground and store, two churches, Matawai Memorial Hall and the Matawai Hotel. which is currently closed. North of the township is Robb Brothers Matawai transport company. Kerry Fogarty Excavators Ltd and Gebert Contracting as well as fencers, shearers, shepherds and farm labourers continue to contribute to the economic and social health of Matawai. Many of the original families are still in the area.
These days people travelling through Matawai village are making more use of tourism opportunities. These include the Motu Trails www.motutrails.co.nz, Hazelwood Hunting and Fishing Lodge http://www.motufishing.co.nz or http://www.newzealand.com/in/plan/business/hazelwood-hunting-and-fishing-lodge/, and Rata Hills Cottage Home Stay https://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/2715.asp. Other events taking place in or around Matawai include The Motu Challenge http://www.motuchallenge.co.nz/ and The New Zealand Rally Champs http://nzrallychamps.co.nz/event/rnd4-bntgisbornerally/ which takes drivers over the rugged Rakauroa Road. Public amenities are available in the village. Healthcare is available at the Turanga Health Matawai doctor’s clinic on Tuesday afternoons. Matawai Police Station is across the road and Matawai Volunteer Fire Brigade is just behind it. Like many New Zealand rural communities, strong connections exist not only among the people of Matawai but also between the people and the place. If you are quiet enough during April you should be able to hear the roar of the wild stags. Hang around a little longer and you may see a cheeky New Zealand weka darting out in front of you. It’s these things that make this area unique. The relationship between the land and the rural community has ensured Matawai continues to be a vital, lively place to live.
More historic details are available at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chriskorte/placesMatawai.html
The school 1908 - Now
Matawai School began life in 1908 around the time New Zealander Ernest Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for splitting the atom! One wonders if the first five pupils of the school learned of the achievement from the Auckland Weeklies newspaper pages that were used to wallpaper the school room.
The students were taught by 17-year-old Elizabeth Redpath who would make the trek to Matawai from her home in Rakauroa along the muddy track on horseback. The school room at Matawai was a small room attached to the washhouse of RJ Fleming (dad to three of the children) and because of its unusual wall coverings it became known as The Paper Room. Classes were later held in a lean-to at the back of the Matawai Hall before the first school building was built in 1913. By the 1920s there were two classrooms separated by a curtain and another class taught in the hallway. The children received cocoa at lunch time. Bullrush and rugby were played at break time and if a swim was needed children and teachers would wander down to the river nearby. There were up to 100 children at the school around this time. Classrooms were heated by two square stoves which burned wood and coke. Considering it often snowed in winter, the stoves were central to a comfortable school day.
Power arrived in Matawai in 1952 which meant lights in the classrooms! While many children still rode their horses to school while Hustler’s buses ferried others living further out of the village. Sometimes children would be bussed to Te Karaka for a sports fixture.
Two further classrooms and a staff room in an additional building were opened in November 1955. A library and a pool were added to the school over the next few decades. The eighties saw administration go electronic and the school secretary at the time went from using her manual typewriter and Banda machine to an Apple computer. The Matawai School roll has expanded over the years often in response to closures of other local schools. Keretu School closed in 1938, Rakauroa School closed at the end of 1945, Homebrook School closed about 1948, Koranga School closed in 1951, Otoko School closed in 1997 and Wairata School closed in 2001. The photo shows milk time at Matawai School, 1956
In 2008 Matawai School celebrated its 100th year. By then it boasted 82 students, four classrooms, a fantastic library, well-resourced computer suite, food technology room, a Playcentre (held in the historic school building), woodwork facilities, an attractive deck complemented by sunshades, and the pool (now covered).
Between 2021 to 2025, our roll has fluctuated between 50 to 60 students. We are fortunate to have a extensive grounds and play areas, a heated indoor swimming pool, state-of-the-art basketball court, a library, breakout spaces, and three classrooms. With small class sizes, experienced teachers, and dedicated learning support assistants our school is a wonderful place to work and learn at!
Respect | Excellence | Community | Perseverance
Respect | Excellence | Community | Perseverance
Where the hills are high and the sky is the limit.
Where the hills are high and the sky is the limit.
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