Rural settlement 13 kilometres north-west of Raurimu. The landscape comprises steep, rugged hills and valleys, once covered in thick native forest. European settlers arrived in the early 1900s and most of the forest was felled between 1908 and 1916. Small sawmills operated in the district from the 1920s. During the First World War and the 1930s depression some farmers abandoned their land. By the mid-1930s around half the land cleared for farms reverted to fern and scrub. High rainfall also caused soils to leach and lose their fertility. The advent of aerial fertiliser topdressing after the Second World War improved farming conditions.
Meaning of place name
Lit: kai: to eat; tieke: the saddleback bird.
