Manaia
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Manaia is a rural town in South Taranaki District, New Zealand situated between Hawera and Opunake. It is named after the former Māori chief of the district, Hukunui Manaia. (For the character from Māori legend, see Manaia (mythology)).
Only a small town, it has its history still visible with the Manaia Redoubt still present.
Built around 1880 on the site of a former pā (Te Takahe) during peacetime, this redoubt and wooden watchtower was created for the passive resistance of the Parihaka chief, Te Whiti, and his followers. The wooden watchtower (35 feet high) was blown down in a storm and replaced in 1912 by a concrete one still standing today amidst the 18-hole golf course surrounded by two original blockhouses. Also, trenches surround the tower and blockhouses. It could house 160 men and all the timber used for the construction was pit sawn locally by the constables.
The golf course is one of the oldest of Taranaki, created around 1905.
Also when driving into Manaia from Hawera the remains of the old flour mill can be seen on the left hand side.
These concrete remains of the mill were built in 1900 to replace the original wooden mill built in 1882 by Mr D. F. McVicar of the Sentry Hill flour mill, New Plymouth.
The local Waiokura River powered the mill by a 15-foot water wheel which developed 15 horsepower. The mill had 4 stories, and a 23-foot stud. It was 35 feet long and 20 feet wide. About 40,000 feet of timber was used and the building provided storage for about 15,000 sacks of flour.
Yarrows bakers has been the main business in Manaia since 1923.
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