Waitotara Valley Road is the longest no exit road in the country.
It starts at Waitotara on State Highway 3 and cuts its way through hills and farmland, roughly following the Waitotara River.
Eventually, it runs out of tarseal and, shortly after that, reaches Ngamatapouri, the valley's settlement near the Taranaki and Wanganui border.
Ngamatapouri has long had a school and a hall. Now it has a rugby club. Things are good up the valley at the moment.
Rugby has been played in the Waitotara Valley since the first settlers began cutting scrub to create farmland. But for a glory decade in the 1950s and early 1960s, Ngamatapouri RFC competed in the Wanganui club rugby competition.
But as happened in rural New Zealand, people left the area and the club folded. No one expected it to be revived.
It's a mild May Saturday afternoon, and this winter for the first time since 1962, Saturday means game day for the Ngamat locals.
Not just for the players but for everyone because after 53 years, Ngamatapouri - known as the Boars - are playing Wanganui senior club rugby.
At 1pm, people are already at the rugby ground leaning against their car bonnets or sitting on the grass bank.
Children wearing their own dark green Ngamatapouri jerseys run and slide through puddles of water.
Among gathering supporters is Ray Matthews. Ray played every game for the old Ngamatapouri team and probably never expected to see the Boars take the field again. He's enjoyed every game this year.
"We played better rugby, of course," Ray says. "We won the competition once or twice. [But] they're doing all right for the first time up."
With Ray is John Matthews, who also played in the team's last game in 1962.
Like Ray and John, the revival of the club has brought a lot of former Ngamat people back home on a regular basis.
"First day they reckon there was 300 people here. All our generation turned up," Ray says. These are different times, of course.
Half a century ago there was no rugby field at Ngamatapouri.
The Boars played home games in Waitotara, 50km back to the highway. It wasn't always easy. If the valley road slipped, players sometimes had to dig and wade their way into town.
"Training was half an hour before the game," John says. "You might have been lock one weekend and centre the next." But no one missed a game.
The brains behind the reincarnation of Ngamatapouri RFC are Jared Belton and Henry Matthews.
Jared took the idea to Henry last year and the pair hatched a plan. This time they would have a home. The club would have its own field at Ngamatapouri.
A year ago, this ground was a paddock. With the help of the locals, Henry levelled it, diverted the creek which ran through it, put up some posts and built a shower block. Easy.
The players begin to filter on to the field to warm-up half an hour before kick-off.
Ratana are the visitors this weekend.
They've had to travel more than 90 minutes from their own settlement on the other side of Wanganui. Other teams will have to travel further to get here.
By kick-off, Ray and John have moved to two chairs sitting on the deck of a ute which is parked on halfway.
Ngamatapouri have been dominant in their first year back and, within a minute, the Boars have scored.
A siren sounds from the southern end of the ground marking the try. That siren would sound 15 more times before the end of the match. Up 49-7 at halftime, the Boars go on to win 92-7.
As of last weekend, Ngamatapouri have played nine and won eight, only losing to Hunterville, a team who seem to win as many championships as lose matches.
Down the road at the Ngamatapouri Hall, others have been preparing the after-match feed while the bar is opened. Supporters trickle back, followed by the coaches, then the players. Soon the entire settlement has gathered.
This full community gathering is the product of the revival of the rugby club and it's all been fuelled by a surprising source.
Bees.
The manuka trade is booming in the Waitotara Valley and, in Ngamatapouri, it has created jobs and brought people back to the area.
That alone provided enough players to re-form the club and the team of shepherds and bee keepers.
Ngamatapouri's own Settler's Honey, the business run by Henry Matthews, is the club's main sponsor along with real estate company Bayley's, and a jersey supplier. Many with a Ngamatapouri connection have pitched in.
"It's brought a lot of people up here who wouldn't normally come up here," team manager Gerald Pearce says.
"It's just that there's more people up this way than there has been for 25 years. The bees are part of that. We're not really bringing anyone in from outside. Ten years ago, half the houses were empty. They're all full now. Things are really looking up here."
One of those attracted to the area is Bryn Hudson, a coup for the fledgling team.
Last year, Bryn was playing premier club rugby in Taranaki and on the cusp of selection for the ITM cup side which went on to win the national title.
He ended up being a key player in the Wanganui provincial team and, a few months later, decided to move home. He was offered work in the bee industry.
Bryn could be playing higher level club rugby. He says he wants to play as many games for Wanganui as he can, but when it comes to club rugby, Ngamatapouri is now home. "It's bloody good isn't it?" he says back at the hall after the game.
"At the end of the day, you've got to look after the company and the community you work for. I'm a part of this team now. It's a wicked community out here. They've all got right behind it. You can't fault it at all. This is a bit of a Cinderella story really."
The revival of the club has also brought Roger Pearce back home in a rugby sense.
Roger's a Ngamat man but has been involved with Wanganui's Kaierau Club for his rugby. He jumped at the chance to coach the team.
"It's going very well. The community's right behind it," he says.
"I think it's just the fact we have an activity that everyone's involved in. It's probably unprecedented as far as I'm aware."
Roger's job is to mould a team with a wide age range and level of experience. Some have never played, some haven't played for a decade and some are current and talented.
"Training's really good, we pretty much get a full muster every time."
Roger hushes the crowd for the two captains to exchange speeches.
The Ratana boys have loved their time up here - despite the scoreline. Wilson Walker, part of the Ratana coaching unit, is just glad they got the numbers together to be here. Ngamatapouri have loved having them too.
Down by 80-odd points, Ratana were still smiling. "We are Ratana, we don't give up", was still heard from the touchline with time almost up. It was an endearing performance.
Ratana topped it off with a haka which bounced off the valley's hills before the teams headed inside to eat.
Wilson says it's just good to have another team in the senior competition and expected Ngamat to challenge the order this year. "That got to be a plus.
"It's a little bit out of the way, but that's what rugby does, it brings communities together." Ratana have a long trip back into the city. But they'll be back. "You wouldn't get a feed like this at Takapuna Rugby Club. You can't beat this."