The Makowai Soldier Settlement is mix of sand country and swampland. Prior to being purchased by the Crown in several blocks it was used as rough grazing for cattle and sheep. A road had to be formed to provide better access. It is one of a number of 'Soldiers Road's' dating from the 1920s. The Swampy portion of the settlement was not effectively drained until the 1930s.
Flooding still remains a problem.
The Southern side of the settlement was on the margins of the Manawatu sand country and these farms which included a longitudinal dune were prone to summer drought. The highest point on this dune Mt Alexander is 165m above sea level. Now in pasture, these dunes were covered in gorse into the 1940s. The farmhouses built on this settlement tended to start out as two or four roomed dwellings, many were extended as families grew in size. Some remain in fairly unmodified, though renovated condition.