The peat swamp of the Gordonton district has no doubt been the cause of much frustration and entertainment. Let us briefly look at several stories recorded about the lighter side of life on the swamp, over the years. Soldiers were allocated allotments on this not so lush and plentiful land. Private Hastie was one of them and he took a job at Woodlands to help provide the necessities for his family. While at work one day he asked his son to look after the cows. It wasn’t long before his son ran panting to the small house on the property yelling... ”Dainty’s bogged”. Mrs Hastie and her son Bill, made haste to where the cow was indeed stuck in the bog. Bill managed to gingerly make his way out to her by balancing on a log and tied a rope around her neck. They began throwing things at her to encourage her to move. She sure did! Dainty bounded free, leaving Mrs Hastie face down and Bill not so happy after Dainty came at him with her horns. She must have taken exception to the manner in which they had removed her. The men and their families who were given allotments of land in the area, took time to learn of the swamps’ ‘special qualities’. One example is a story told of several men who were doing their best to build homes for their families on their arrival. They spent hours digging posts into the ground only for the ground to swallow them. They were left scratching their heads in wonder! The home of many stories
A young shepherd and his new bride accepted offer of work at Woodlands. They travelled by train to Taupiri, but in their excitement they had neglected to inform anyone of their arrival. Therefore, they were left with no choice but to walk the remaining distance to Woodlands from the station. This was some 15 kms of challenging terrain. Their determination to get there, took them across bog, drains and lakes. Eventually they arrived looking less than ready to begin work for the Gordons. Instead, the Gordons would have been wondering what the cat had dragged in! Rapata Henry was another worker at Woodlands. He was a bit of a character and drove a team of bullock on the Estate. One day it is said that Maori King Tawhiao was sitting on his white horse and talking to some workers at the Estate. He was holding a stick of gelignite (used to clear the land for drain building) and said, “I will light this stick in my hand and if my hand is not blown off I have mana”. Knowing full well that if he held it at the base he would be safe, so he proceeded. Rapata saw this and rose to the challenge, however he held the stick in the middle and blew his hand clean off. He continued his hard work on the Estate, with just one hand. George Hopa wrote of a story that has been told in the Hopa family over the years. In 1886, the year of the Tarawera eruption, a group of men were digging the Millhouse drain. As they dug the channel, the ground was shaking so much that the drain fell in! A farmer from the district, had a truckload of cows arrive at his farm. They were unloaded from the truck into a paddock and began to run around a bit, which is not altogether uncommon. Then the ground began to shake and the farmer thought there was an earthquake. The cows got spooked yet they continued to run until exhausted. As soon as they stopped, the ground stopped shaking.