Matamau

Matamau
Matamau and tree stumps in 1880s
Coordinates: 40°08′28″S 176°09′32″E / 40.141°S 176.159°E / -40.141; 176.159
Country New Zealand
RegionManawatū-Whanganui
Territorial authorityTararua District
WardNorth Tararua Ward
Government
  Tararua MayorTracey Collis
  Wairarapa MPMike Butterick
  Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MPCushla Tangaere-Manuel
Population
 (2018)
  Total
144
Time zoneUTC+12 (NZST)
  Summer (DST)UTC+13 (NZDT)
Postcode
4977

Matamau is a small village, on a ridge between the Matamau and Whakaruatapu Streams, tributaries of the Manawatū River, in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. State Highway 2 and the Palmerston North–Gisborne line run through the village. It has a rare surviving example of a basic railway station, a cafe, developed from the former post office and store about 1969, and a truck repair workshop. Until the 1870s it was densely forested, but most of the trees were felled and milled by 1910 and replaced by farms.