The large chimney on this cottage really caught the eye. PHOTO: DUNCAN BROWN
The large chimney on this cottage really caught the eye. PHOTO: DUNCAN BROWN
Like Sir John Hampden back in the late 19th century, I could not see the railway tracks of Tikokino as I took a pleasant summer wander through the quaint and historic little district.
Sir John staked his commercial and real-estate ambitions on the hopeful premise that the main rail linebeing planned from Wellington to the seaport of Napier would run through the district.
So planning took place and in 1860 some 86 sections of land were sold in what was then called (appropriately enough) Hampden.
But all the anticipation of becoming a central point for rail in rural Hawke's Bay dissolved, basically, because the railway boffins veered the track path off toward the east from Takapau about 25km south of Hampden.
That created frowns and uncertainty in the burgeoning little hamlet but delight in Waipawa.
So Hampden never really got past the planning stages, although it did flourish to a good degree when milling of totara and white pine from the heavy bushlands of the region got under way.
The mills were busy - up to 20 operating at one stage - which I guess came to be how the local hotel got its name, Sawyers; frequented by many chaps who wielded the saws.
Today it is not a forestry town (they milled pretty well all there was growing there back then) and is instead a centre for farming.
It is on a flat plain between the Waipawa River and the Mangaonuku Stream, and now bears its Maori title, which replaced Hampden back in 1900 - which intrigued me when I delved into its origin.
Tiko means to defecate and kino means something evil or bad.
Mmmm, I think I'd be more comfortable with the version of the story that suggests it was named after an action ... no, no ... a warring action, a battle.
It is a colourful, intriguing place to stop on State Highway 50 and take a bit of a wander; or just for a day trip in pursuit of nothing in particular apart from fine fare and refreshments at the excellent Sawyer's Arms and a pleasant wander along peaceful and intriguingly historic rural roads.
It was warm when I stopped at the "Arms" after a pleasant 45-minute drive from Napier but decided to quench the thirst after a bit of a walk rather than before.
At the corner where Owen St runs off SH50 there is evidence of the old days - marvellous old wooden buildings that look strangely beautiful in their peeling paint and patches of lichen.
PEACE: Trevor and Jill from Waipukurau often stop at Tikokino for a peaceful rural lunch break. HBT134599-04
One is what used to be Old Flynn's Store ... built in 1894.
Across the highway, in a field where curious sheep stared back at me, there was a little one-room cottage, barely larger than a child's playhut, with a huge and remarkable brick chimney; once some shepherd's living quarters.
The large chimney on this cottage really caught the eye. PHOTO: DUNCAN BROWN
The houses and cottages, all with history well infused, are scattered across the hamlet.
In many front gardens there are imaginative sculptures and gardens. It is intoxicatingly calming just wandering the wide green berms and listening to the birdlife and taking in a true-blue Kiwi rural spread.
I wandered down Murchison Rd and on the corner where it turned into Phillips St came across what once was an industrial farm machine of some sort, with the disintegrating remains of a straw man perched beside it. Then I found his mate about 40m up the road - perched (complete with helmet) on a rusting old scooter that had a small barrel of ale (empty) strapped to the back.
EASY RIDER: I had to take a closer look at what appeared to be a hobbit riding a scooter outside one of the many colourful gardens in the hamlet. PHOTO: DUNCAN BROWN
It also served as the property's letterbox number plate. Further along there was a sign advising free-range eggs were $5 a dozen.
I wandered back and called by the Tikokino Memorial Community Centre, which was opened in 1978 and which features the names of those who died in war. Beside it the concrete tennis courts had nets up.
I came across a Waipukurau couple, Trevor and Jill, who said one of the picnic tables under the large shading tree beside the centre was a favourite spot for them to stop by and have lunch, and take in the rural splendour.
"This is our watering hole," Trevor said.
Many people head for this region to wander the many picturesque country gardens - something I will do another day.
