Charles Philippe Hippolyte de Thierry, 1793–1864 Between 1837
and 1840 the self-styled baron Charles de Thierry lived at Hokianga
on land granted to him after his claim to 40,000 acres there had
been rejected by Nga Puhi chiefs. With his hopes to set up a French
colony at Hokianga dashed, he left for Auckland in 1840 and died
there in 1864.
On the plaque there you will find that he got the land off Chief
Patuone (2 caches in Auckland are dedicated to his memory
already)
Since then there has been another discovery of yet another
plaque here.
(note from Radionuts log)
Stopped in with
Butterfly_Lady on our Northland weekend away, and - Wow - History
indeed – as well as the detail here from Glyn, and the info
on the cairn at the cache site, have a look at the plaque flat on
the ground by the road sign! Then look at the structure you are
standing on – the platform of the northern-most railway
station built in New Zealand – the terminus of the Hokianga
railway – you can see the remnants of the old road winding
along the hillside to the south, and the causeway directly to this
spot from the hill that was the railway station access road, then
see that the current road is built on the old railway embankment,
and passes between the station platform and loading bank at this
point – both are still in place. Construction never went past
here, and only public works trains ever ran this far until 1931,
but this is a seriously historic spot – many thanks Glyn for
making us stop in this spot!
Cache is a small glass jar with logbook & pencil
only.