Terawhiti Station

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Terawhiti Station is one of New Zealand's oldest and largest sheep stations, located along the south coast of Wellington. Terawhiti Station has seen a diverse range of land uses over the past 160 years. Originally a cattle station, Terawhiti grew into one of New Zealand's largest sheep stations before returning to cattle in 1993. The station originally consisted of the upraised marine terrace at Tongue Point on Wellington's south coast and was purchased by two Wellington businessmen Samuel Revans and William Mein Smith following the sale of Crown 'waste lands'. Today the station is approximately 13,000 acres (53 km²) in size, running from Te Ika a Maru Bay in the north, down to Karori Stream in the south and Cape Terawhiti in the West.

The area boasts a rich and varied hisotry. Gold mining was prominent on the station during the 19th century. The first alluviel 'rush' began in the 1850s, while the more concerted effort to extract gold from Cape Terawhiti followed in the 1880s. The latter of which failed to provide an economic return. Problems arose when miners encountered the fragmented geological landforms that make up much of the Wellington region. While payable quartz veins, containing gold, would be located, these seams come to an abrupt end, making mining a fragmented, and expensive exercise. This eventually caused the demise of gold mining on Cape Terawhiti.

Meridian Energy are soon to begin the construction of Project West Wind. Meridian propose to erect 66 turbines over the combined project area of Terawhiti Station and Quartz Hill. The energy produced by Project West Wind is estimated to generate 210 MW – enough power for all the houses in Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Porirua.