Tinui

Tinui is a pleasant 40 km drive from Masterton on a good road which takes you past dairy and sheep farms, pine plantations, herb farms, home stays and a lime quarry. While an easy drive it is still be a rural drive and you are always likely to come across herds of cattle or sheep being moved. Surfers with cars loaded with surf boards often zip past on the way to Castlepoint, trucks and farm bikes loaded with dogs, and you often see cyclists loaded up with tents and packs. Castlepoint is approximately 15 kms past Tinui.




Tinui has been known for serious flooding and there are homes here which have had to move to higher ground, one has built a huge flood bank around it. The local archive has produced an interesting book "When the Rains Came" about the 1991 flood.


Tinui has a timber mill and a miniature horse stud.




Tinui has recently lost it's landmark pub where you could see chickens and pigs in the backyard. The front section has been moved out to Martinborough which is more popular with the city visitors as the area produces wine, is a pretty town with upmarket shops within an easier distance from Wellington.

The loss of the pub has had an interesting effect on Tinui as the imposing two storied building sat on the corner and created both a focal point and a boundary to the small village. In the last year the small dairy there also had to close. As the shop's building is owned by a community trust the locals have banded together and now run it on a roster system.





Next door is another shop which is used as a co-operative craft shop. It's a place to get very cheap and well made articles and I always purchase Rosa's Herb Farm delicious handmade pickles and chutneys.


Behind this quaint shop is an area that was once the town jail which has been turned into the public toilets.

Opposite the shops is a small but vibrant school.
























In the yard is a memorial bell, erected in 1976 to celebrate 100 years on the site.

Next door is the large Memorial Hall- often used by the school - and behind it a recently erected hockey turf and tennis court. The small playgroup here attracts families from the area and is vibrant with ideas and bright happy children. Plunket (a New Zealand child care organisation) use one of the towns houses for regular nurse visits.












This small community has a book group, they are starting a movie group and they are striving to keep their small community alive despite the losses of the local pub and shop. They support each other with child care, shared trips to town and fun times together.