The Miranui Tramway (Horowhenua) Traditional Cache
the Seagnoid: Alas there is now nowhere near to park. Archiving this as its no longer a good cache.
The Miranui Tramway (Horowhenua)
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An easy to find cache on the Miranui Tramway underpass.
Warning - this cache is on a very busy road. It is on the left of the road, after the tramway, if you are heading north (so you know where to park, avoiding having to cross the road).
| The Miranui Flax Mill operated from 1907 to 1933, following the decline of Foxton's third and last flax boom. At its height there were 19 mills, 42 flax stripping machines and more than 700 staff, making it New Zealand's largest flax mill. The mill bought a 5-ton Bagnall engine to tow the flax wagons from the Makerua Swamp, under the road and railway via this underpass, back to the mill which was on the hill just north of here, very near the cache Makerua (Horowhenua). However the engine proved too heavy for use in swampland and by 1910 they switched to a horse drawn tram. The tramway ran 6km into the swamp with 200m of track ripped up and relaid each day. |
Flax
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Once the leaf was delivered to the mill the leaf material would be stipped off and the remaining hemp placed out into the paddocks to dry and bleach in the sun. After 10 days the bleached hemp was bundled and sent to Wellington by rail for export to Australia and England, where it was made into rope and string products. Miranui produced so much hemp that they had their own railway station, Makerua (geocache here).
Now the rails have been pulled up and the underpass is used by a dairy farmer.
For a full history of the mill and flax making see the Kete Horowhenua article here.
The underpass. Mill opening, 1907
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Flax train over the Tokomaru River, 1908
Flax tram
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There is only one good parking place: approach the cache from Shannon and park just past the cache, before the Opiki turnoff. The cache is on the same side of the road as the parking space. You are looking for a black container, about 200ml. Good luck!
References:
Kete Horowhenua: "Miranui - The Story of New Zealand's Largest Flax Mill"
Envirohistory NZ: "The little engine that couldn’t: the Miranui tramway"
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(Decrypt)
Cbfg
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