Ormondville Rail Preservation Group Inc
The railway station as....
A Country Homestay
(usually as Self-catering Accommodation)
The railway station as....
Ormondville station is available for exclusive overnight use offering a complete railway nostalgia experience in a rural setting.
The station, built in 1880, has a Category Two listing with the New Zealand Historical Places Trust. It won the Rail Heritage Award in 1997 and the National Federation of Rail Societies Inc.'s Paul Heighton Trophy "For Excellence" in 2000. Restored to a 1950s theme, it is furnished with railway artifacts and fronted with a graceful wrought iron verandah.
Our accommodation standards are approved by the NZ Bed & Breakfast book. The main bedroom has a fine double bed, while an adjoining small bedroom has two single beds. Between six and eight people can be accommodated within the station.
In addition, several modestly furnished, newly-restored two-bed railway workers' huts, mounted on wagons, can also provide a unique taste of how a railway worker once lived.
The station's main office, crammed with genuine station paraphernalia, serves as a lounge/dining area of distinctive character. There are modern ablutions, and a small, well-equipped kitchen. You can meet the locals at the Settlers Arms Tavern opposite. We will provide suggestions for cycle touring, lunch, walking, fishing and golf.
Up to six trains pass on weeknights – a highlight for some. Night trains on Saturdays or Sundays are uncommon.
SPECIAL NOTE: For safety, the station is suited to adults rather than young children. Dogs are 'BYO kennel' and must not be taken inside the station building out of consideration for subsequent guests and cleaning staff.
Accommodation costs:
$60.00 per night for one person, or
$75.00 per night for two people (as a double or as two singles),
Plus an extra $15 per person after that.
To book, please phone our hosts at Ormondville on: (06) 374-1514 - or email us
Although we have a fully equipped kitchen enabling you to prepare your own meals, an evening meal may instead be obtained at one of the two small country-style hotels in the immediate vicinity. These are the Settler's Arms Tavern, in Ormondville almost opposite the station, or the Crown Hotel, Norsewood. The closest grocery store is the Scandi Superette, at Norsewood, which is open between 7:30 am and 6:00 pm daily.
What happened to our B&B operation???
Back in the old days (i.e. 1997-2001) when passenger trains stopped at Ormondville Station, it was viable to offer B&B-style accommodation at the station. However, as nowadays everyone who stays arrives by car, motorbike etc., it has proven more realistic (and cheaper for guests) to allow guests to bring their own breakfast and to charge them less. Guests also seem to prefer this new plan. Thus our offerings are now along the lines of what a motel would provide - i.e. bedding etc. provided, but BYO food.
Depending on what is required, group visits can be arranged by contacting our homestay hosts (above), by contacting our 'Visits' email address, (or our main email address) or through our postal address: ORPG Inc., c/- Ormondville Railway Station, R.D.7, Dannevirke, 5491, New Zealand.
A fee of $2.00 per head is payable by groups (a minimum of $10.00 is payable) that are given tours of the station and its surrounds. An additional fee is applicable if your group also wishes to see our special 50-minute historic slide show of the station's history and preservation process. For further details, see our Souvenirs & Products page also.
Please be aware though that given the wide-spread nature of the membership of ORPG's active members (living between Wellington and Napier) visitor arrangements can sometimes be complicated by availability of key people. Coinciding a visit with a working bee weekend is often a practical solution (i.e. the second weekend of every month)
Ormondville is only 6 kms. off State Highway 2 in the Tararua District, in Southern Hawkes Bay. Turn east at Norsewood and follow the Ormondville signs. When you meet a rail crossing, you are at the station.
Wellington 3 hours
Palmerston North 1 hour, 10 minutes
Dannevirke 20 minutes
Hastings 1 hour
Things to do in and near Ormondville
Ormondville
Places of interest around Ormondville, in addition to the station, include the present Ormondville Viaduct and the cuttings and track bed associated with the original viaduct. The best vantage points for both are on the far (eastern) side of Ormondville School. The site of the town’s former railway houses is on Norsewood-Ormondville Road, although most have now gone.
Other noteworthy places include Ormondville’s beautiful Gothic-style 'Church of the Epiphany', in Newtown Street. This church was built in 1882-3, and was consecrated in January 1884. The former Ormondville Post Office, Town Hall, BNZ and grocery store buildings are also still there. Other than the former BNZ (across the road from the station), these are now private homes.
The Settlers Arms Tavern is located on Matamau-Ormondville Road, near the station, on the site of its three ill-fated predecessors, the first of which opened on New Years Day 1881. Photos of these buildings appear on the walls of the bar, along with other historical photos of the town and district. Its postal address is: Settlers Arms Tavern, R.D. 7, Dannevirke, New Zealand, phone (06) 374-1823.
Also clearly marked on the Norsewood-Ormondville Road is the side-road leading to Ormondville Cemetery. Gazetted as a cemetery reserve in December 1883, its first occupant, John Astley, was killed the following month in a bush-felling accident in Holt’s bush at Papatu (site of a small station between Ormondville and Kopua).
Whereas the authorities had difficulty even discovering Astley’s full name, the next burial, in February 1884, remains a dominant feature in the town’s history. This grave, that of Mary Edwards and four of her five young children, Roland Jnr., Arthur, Ellen and Maud, is at the far end of the cemetery and is marked by a weathered and slightly vandalised headstone which itself has a controversial history. It spent years buried in the grave (following Council instructions to get rid of it) and the word ‘murdered’ has been partially obliterated by someone who thought it offensive. In 1884, though, this seemingly remote grave was in a tiny clearing in the bush, and the site was probably selected due to its comparatively high situation in the new reserve. The headstone was paid for by public subscription after the Edwards family in England refused to contribute.
In 1999, the Epitaph television series included a story on the murder and the subsequent decades of controversy surrounding it. In 2005, the Off the Rails television series also followed Edwards' trail, as an aside, from Ormondville to his burial marker at the old Napier Prison.
Makotuku
A short drive from the station (or perhaps a ride on the station’s bicycles), along the Matamau-Ormondville Road, is the township of Makotuku. Its principle features likely to interest station visitors are the Makotuku Viaduct (the infamous Roland Edwards was captured under the first Makotuku Viaduct a few hours after the aforementioned murders), the site of the long demolished Makotuku Station (see it in our Photo Album page), and the old Makotuku Hotel, which closed in mid-2004 when its owners transferred a couple of kilometres down the road to the slightly newer Settlers Arms in Ormondville. The restored Makotuku Hall is still present and regularly used. There are two roadside memorial cairns in the village also, one adjoining the hall and another adjoining the former post office (on the same road as the old hotel).
The remains of the old Makotuku Railway Station, consisting mostly of the loading backs etc., are still there to those wishing to explore what at one time was the terminus of the Hawkes Bay Railway.
Other features such as the former school and one of the churches, are still present but are now residences. Another beautiful old Makotuku church now serves Linton Military Camp, near Palmerston North.
Norsewood
In recent years, nearby Norsewood has promoted its Scandinavian heritage, and in particular, its Norwegian heritage. This has resulted in the development of a number of places likely to interest station visitors. Norsewood Promotions Inc. operates the Norsewood Information Centre in the main street (Coronation Street) of Upper Norsewood, where pamphlets and directions to places of interest may be obtained. Its postal address is Norsewood Information Centre, c/- P.D.C. Norsewood, New Zealand, or phone (06) 374-0991, or email them.
The nearby Norsewood Pioneer Cottage Museum is a good next stop for those wishing to learn the district’s history. Upper Norsewood is also home to a range of other shops likely to entice visitors, including an antique shop, a furniture maker, a grocery store, a tearooms and the Norsewood Crown Hotel.
Key annual events in the town include the Norwegian Constitution Day, celebrated close to each 17th of May, Settlers’ Day celebrated on 22 September, and the Norsewood Country Fair, which is held at the end of November.
As part of its Scandinavian heritage theme, Norsewood – the ‘Troll Capital of the Southern Skies’ - has developed a theme surrounding the trolls of Norse mythology. This has resulted in such things as the new Johanna's World Park (complete with trolls) being established in Coronation Street, opposite the school. This park is based on the historical novel 'Johanna's World' about a Norwegian girl who emigrated to New Zealand in 1873 on the ship Høvding. A replica of her small home in Norway (which still exists) has been built there, while her final home, also in Coronation Street directly behind the museum, has recently been restored.
Also and the 'Olaf the Troll' series of childrens books featuring stories and drawings of various places around the district. These also serve as pictorial souvenirs. The ‘Norsewood Troll Stroll’, which takes up to an hour, takes in and explains points of interest around the historic town.
In addition to the many typically Scandinavian street names in and around the town, Norsewood’s well-kept cemetery is one of the largest Scandinavian cemeteries in Australasia.
A particular attraction to people visiting the district is Norsewear of NZ Ltd. Their popular factory shop in Hovding Street, Lower Norsewood is open daily. Norsewear sells a wide range of quality woollen knitwear. Opposite Norsewear is a shop that manufactures glasswear and leadlight articles.
Other features of the district include ANZAC Park, 4 kms north of Norsewood, which provides sheltered walks in native bush, which can give an impression of how the district was before sawmilling began in the 1870s.
Last updated: 13 March 2006
