Coalmine Corner (Taranaki) Traditional Cache

In 1925 William Shanks a Scottish miner discovered coal 80 metres across the Tangarakau River from this geocache. At the mine coal was tipped into bins and bought by aerial cableway to this spot. It was then trucked to near Tahora and loaded into railway wagons and hauled to Tangarakau to power electric generators and steam engines.
In 1928 an application to build a 6km tramway direct to Tangarakau was granted and a 2ft (610mm) line was opened on 29^th March 1930. It ran on the opposite bank following the Tangarakau river downstream crossing it at about the halfway point and ending at the Tangarakau rail yard's loading bins and screening plant. The coal turned out to be low grade containing a lot of shale and stone proving too much of a problem for NZR to use and the mine closed a few years later.
The mine can be visited by the intrepid explorer by crossing the river (low flow only) just above the rapid to the left of here. 80 metres straight ahead is the mine entrance surrounded by moss covered brickwork. The mine is flooded just inside but access can be made by going 30 metres to the right to the bed of a small stream then going upstream. The 4^th small hole in the left bank with a single step cut under it is the way in. (torch essential).