The road through Molesworth high country farm is now open for the summer. It closes again at Easter. Molesworth is in the northern part of the South Island.
Molesworth is the biggest farm in New Zealand. It is 180,787 hectares. It has about 10,000 beef cattle, not dairy cows, on the farm. Some of the mountains on the farm are more than 2,000m high. In the winter, farmers on horses bring the cattle down to the valleys because there is so much snow on the higher land. The farm has about 80 horses and 45 working dogs. Sometimes they use small aeroplanes to find the cattle.
The farm belongs to the New Zealand government. It is managed by the Department of Conservation (DoC). In the 1930s, farmers gave the land to the government because they were bankrupt. They had 90,000 sheep on the land but rabbits ate all the grass and the snow made it difficult to farm. Today, DoC works hard to get rid of rabbits and to plant good grass in the valleys for the cattle to eat.
A farm manager and four other farmers, with their families, live in Molesworth all year round and six other workers join them in spring, summer and autumn.
From about 1850 to early twentieth century, farmers in Nelson and Marlborough brought their animals to Christchurch through Molesworth before there was a road. This could take them two or three weeks for the animals to walk all the way. The men travelled on horseback. They could sell their animals for good prices in Christchurch.
Today the road starts 22km south of Blenheim and finishes at Hanmer Springs. It is 207km and takes about six hours. It is a shingle road so it is quite rough. If you travel on this road, make sure you fill your car with petrol before you start and have a good spare tyre. There is no cell phone coverage. There are two camping places with toilets and water. The road is only open from 7am until 7pm.
To find out more information, go to www.doc.govt.nz and type the word Molesworth in the search space at the top right.