Totara Park

Story

Totara Park is a suburb of Upper Hutt, New Zealand, located 2 km northeast of the city centre. It is accessed via the Totara Park Bridge which crosses the Hutt River, connecting it to State Highway 2 and the main Upper Hutt urban area. It was popular in the 1970s and 1980s for families moving into the Upper Hutt area.Most of the streets in Totara Park are named after states, towns and cities of the United States, with the main road running through the suburb being California Drive.Totara Park is built on alluvial gravel. The Wellington Fault runs through the suburb - one section of California Drive straddles the fault, and the road lanes are built on either side of the fault with a large central reservation between them. This was designed so houses would be offset at least 20 metres from the fault, hopefully limiting damage if the fault were to rupture.The Māori names for this area are Te Hau-karetu and for the Hutt River itself; Heretaunga, and Awa Kaiangi.Points of interestTotara Park was the name for the entire eastern side of the upper valley, due to the Tōtara trees that grew there.Was the western side to an ornate suspension bridge opened in 1917. Maoribank Bridge, originally being able to carry automobiles and trucks, eventually was used for pedestrians only, and finally collapsing in a medium flood in the early 1990s. A new modern type suspension bridge was then built on the northern side towards Brown Owl.