News

During February, Tranzit Tours ran two bus tours from Masterton to Pongaroa.The visitors were entertained and enthralled by a morning of activities at Wild Side Farm followed by lunch at the Pongaroa Hotel and a walk around the village centre.
Feedback from the visitors has been very positive and further tours are scheduled for May.

At the end of February, the South African blade shearing team set up a training camp in Pongaroa, ahead of the world championships to be held in association with the 2012 Golden Shears festival.

Hosted by Tony and Falyn Hoggard, the team practiced in varioius local sheds before giving demonstrations at the Pongaroa Hotel and at Pongaroa School.
The practice paid off as the visitors once again cleaned up at the tournament

A cool fine evening, a good turnout and strong competition; what could be better. Pongaroa Domain was the venue for the 2012 Pongaroa Speed Shear and what a night it was. Competition ranged from the cockies shear through the Weetbix, Beer and Shear triathlon to the evening's climax of the $1,000 Open Shear contest. Supported with plenty of food and drinks, it was a traditional good night out.

The weather was kind for the 110th Pongaroa Horse Sports on 28th January. A great day was had by all who attended. Congraulations to the winners and all who took part. Special thanks to Shirley Maher, Gordon Elmers and the rest of the organising team.

What a turn out for this special day. More than 500 people took part and many dressed for the occasion.
Music from the Roger Fox Band and One Night Only kept the tempo up from the afternoon until the early hours and great food was provided by the Scouts and Pongaroa Early Years.
Thanks to all who took part in making this a great family day.

On November 16th, Information Centre staff from the lower North Island visited Pongaroa on a familiarisation trip. The morning was spent at Wild Side farm viewing the accommodation and activity programmes available for visitors.
After Lunch at the Pongaroa Hotel, the group viewed the Four Mile Bush camp site and spent the afternoon at Akitio and Glen Ora stations reviewing the walking tours and cottage accommodation.
Feedback has been good and all attendees are keen to promote the area.