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BEACH, SEA, STATION
AND VINEYARD
The Beach and the Sea
The name Flat Point has been described by some as an anomaly of terms because they ask how can a point on the coast be flat? It is really only when one views Flat Point from the sea approaching from the south as Captain Cook did on February 11th 1770 that it is clearly apparent why he named it that.
The low 500 metre extension of flat land that reaches from the coastal hills to end in a blunt sandy beach and low dunes is protected from erosion by the large close offshore mass of partly submerged rock that forms Flat Point reef. At low tide the expansive exposed reef area adds to the Flat Point appearance.
The presence of the reef is one of Flat Point's greatest assets in that it provides the protection on the sandy beach for boat launching in the reef's shelter even in moderate to rough swell conditions. The same phenomena also provides safe swimming conditions with the advantage of finding progressively bigger waves along the beach the further north one goes. This is excellent for children to progress to more difficult play as their confidence grows in the water.
The reef itself provides exhilarating snorkel diving conditions of infinitely varying degree of difficulty and can also be accessed by foot at low tide without getting completely wet. The abundant seaweed growth moves continually with the ocean swells providing occasional glimpses of paua and kina on the rocks and crayfish and reef fish amongst them.
Outside of the reef the water depth is about 12 metres still covering submerged rock areas and getting progressively deeper until it turns to mud bottom about 30m deep and 1000m off shore. This provides for excellent conditions for scuba diving and line fishing by boat with common species caught being blue cod, groper, geunard, terakahi, trumpeter, barracuda, kawahai and others. Common species of fish caught by gill net are blue moki and butterfish. It is not uncommon for some of the better organised fishermen to catch twelve or more different species on a single day trip fishing.
Crayfish are plentiful around the rocks here and can be caught by baited pot overnight or by diving during daytime. It has been mentioned by many that it is like selecting candy off a shelf when diving for them as they are often lined up side by side under the rock ledges. Paua is another delicacy which is readily found here. Dolphins are quite common in the waters near the reef and sometimes there will be a seal either on the beach or the reef. Only recently a pod of Orcas traversed the coast close in shore.
Further offshore and to the south there is the island rock of Kahu which has a resident seal colony and near to Kahu there is a deep sea canyon known as Honeycombe canyon where the sea floor falls from 40m deep to 400-500 deep over only about 100 horizontally. Even further offshore near the continental shelf there is big game shark fishing and albacore and skipjack tuna.
There are also many other reef areas in the near proximity to Flat Point north and south, some with interesting local names like "Tom's rock", "Elephant reef", "Cale' reef" and "the Three Sisters" to name but a few. These names are from local fisherman who have fished this area for years. Even todays fisherman use these names to identify where they are.
There is in fact so much "foul ground" off the Flat Point coast that the area up to a mile or so from the coast is still shown on bathymetric charts as uncharted and as any fisherman knows, it is around "foul ground" that fish congregate.
For those that like surfing there are places along the coast south of Flat Point that provide good surf conditions and for the very experienced there is also a sunken reef or "bonbora" in surfies language about 500m offshore.
The coastline to the north of Flat Point is mainly rocky shoreline with the base of the hills right at the sea. This stretches some 5 kms as far as the Kaiwhata river and in between there are the 1st and 2nd creek outlets and Karaka bay. Between 1st and 2nd creeks there is a steep cliff section which has a gannet nesting colony on it.
To the south of Flat Point there is extensive sandy and at times smooth pebble beach for about 11 kms.
Flat Point is accessed by road from the Gladstone area of the Wairarapa through Te Wharau and travel time from Wellington and Palmerston North is about two hours. |
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The Station and the Vineyard
In 1980 Mary and John McGuinness and their three young sons, Jay, Ben and Charles purchased the part still known as Flat Point station encompassing approximately 5000acres and moved there from Te Awamutu.
Now 29 years on the station has grown to 9000 acres with additional adjacent land to the south purchased in 1996 and in 2006 adjacent land to the north was purchased. Jay, his wife Bev, daughter Alice and son Sam together with Charles are running the station's farm. Ben,his wife Nichola and sons George and Oliver are involved with the Reef Point Lodge accommodation business and the Golf Course. They live and work in Auckland where Ben is a diagnostic and interventional neuroradiologist at Auckland Public Hospital. He is also a specialist neuroradiologist at "Trinity MRI" in Newmarket, Auckland www.trinitymri.co.nz
The beach frontage of the property is 9kms and the distance around the boundary is approx 40 kms.
There are numerous interesting places within the property. The prominent high points are "Big Puk"(Pukeroro Trig 480m) and the "Widows Trig" and the main valleys are Te Unu Unu and Arawhata streams and First Creek.
Some of the interesting features within have interesting names like "wild boar gully", "hawk gate", "the Widows" and the "monkey tree" and many more which only local knowledge can provide passed down from the families that have farmed Flat Point Station . Every name and place has a story behind it.
The climate at Flat Point is generally summer dry mainly because of the predominant north westerly winds that release their moisture over the Tararua ranges and become warmer as they pass over the coast. The coastal rim is nearly frost free although it is exposed to occasional southerly storms which, while some may see as inclement, are the main catalyst of the ever changing sea and a wild and stormy sea can be beautiful when viewed from the comfort of the land. In fact some of the most pleasant weather conditions experienced in the area are when a southerly storm is dying out and generally the sea water becomes clear at that time because the southerly wind carries no dust.
In the summer maximum temperature in the shade can reach 37C and sea water temperature about 18- 20C. During recent time when the seasons produced unusually warm sea current along the coast from the north, a large leather jacket turtle visited on our beach causing considerable interest.
Flat Point is accessed by road from the Gladstone area of the Wairarapa through Te Wharau and travel time from Wellington and Palmerston North is about two hours. The last 20 kms is gravel surface which adds to the perception of getting away from it all when being here
Between 1984 and 2000 there was a gradual social decline in the area inland toward Masterton with the establishment of large areas of pine forests on what was formally sheep and cattle farming land. It is our belief that the strength of the area in the future lies in the establishment of a stronger local social community and the chance for others to enjoy this piece of "Paradise on the Pacific coast". This is now starting to happen with the new community at Flat Point Beach Village.
There are now 19 buildings completed or near completion and at least another 4 about to begin or intended to be built in the next year.We are committed to maintaining this development as a high quality natural and environmentally integrated project and we welcome inquiry from those who recognise these values and would aspire to share in it.
NEW BEACH SECTIONS
For the 41 NEW SECTIONS in stage two that have just acquired Resource Consent please contact Mary and John on 063727527 to view for PreSales
FLAT POINT BEACH'S SECTIONS:
1: Nearly all the rocks between you and the sea at Flat Point Beach are actually in the sea and are habital for fish and other seafood.
2: Our sections are only 5-10m above sea level, there is not a hill which you have to climb up and down everytime you go to the beach.
3: Our valleys are long and low to the west giving late sunny evenings and stunning sunsets
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ACCOMMODATION
Quality, uniquely private accommodation is available at our Reef Point Lodge Please view our Accommodation Page. |
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THE VINEYARD -------- WINE SALES
Since 2000 we have been progressing a coastal vineyard involving Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cab Sav, Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec and Shiraz. We now have available a small quantity of our first Pinot Noir, 2006 and 2007 Chardonnay and also a Bordeaux red 'Arawhata' 2004 , 2005, and 2006 for sale at the "WAGON" situated at the Flat Point Homestead. Our wine has been made for us by Frank Parker of Loopline Vineyard.
There are a number of unusual features in growing our wine any one of which would make it interesting like "the closeness to the sea" and probably economically the most important of all "the potentially frost free climate" at such a southern latitude.
Wine made from the Flat Point Vineyard grapes is available for purchasing at "THE WAGON" situated at the Flat Point Homestead. |
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Images © 2001- 2010 - J & M McGuinness
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