A LITTLE HISTORY
Before the arrival of European settlers, the Ngaio and Crofton Downs area was covered in native bush, which provided food and timber for Maori in the area. The area was one of the few sources of timber suitable for building waka. Trees would be harvested from the forest, and when the Kaiwharawhara Stream was full with rain the trunks would be floated down to the harbour.
The nearest settlement was probably the Ngati Tama pa at Kaiwharawhara. A track ran from Kaiwharawhara through Ngaio to another pa at Ohariu.
In 1839, the New Zealand Company arrived in Wellington and purchased around 160,000 acres around the harbour, including the Ngaio and Crofton Downs area, from some of the Maori inhabitants. Ngati Tama soon left Kaiwharawhara for the Hutt Valley because their pa had not been set aside as a reserve, and their cultivations were being damaged by settlers’ cattle.
Logging began in 1840, and logging tracks were formed which later became Crofton Road, Ottawa Road, and Awarua Street. The Maori track from Kaiwharawhara was widened to allow horses to travel along it. It was named the Bridle Track, and is still in existence today. Later in the decade the Old Porirua Road was built through Ngaio, and construction began on Ngaio Gorge Road.
Ngaio’s first house was built by Captain Daniell in 1843, and by 1846 there was a flour mill in the Ngaio Gorge, powered by a waterwheel. More land was cleared, and farms were established. One famous early resident was Sir William Fox, later Premier of New Zealand, who had a house at what is now 21 Kenya Street. In the 1840s and 1850s, Ngaio was known variously as the Old Porirua Road District, Upper Kaiwhara, or Trelissick, but commonly became known as Crofton.
Settlement was boosted by the construction of the railway through the area. This was originally part of the Main Trunk Line between Auckland and Wellington. The Ngaio part of the railway was later rerouted, and the Ngaio line was terminated at Johnsonville. The first decade of the twentieth century saw Ngaio acquire a church, shops and a school. The name of the suburb was officially changed from Crofton to Ngaio. In 1924 the Town Hall and Library Room was opened.
Please NOTE that you must sign the log book for each individual cacher, Finds logged not corresponding with the logbook may be deleted. Please take some time before leaving to ensure that the cache is re-hidden exactly as you found it. Please bring your own pen.
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For more information about geocaching in New Zealand,
visit the New Zealand Recreational GPS Society forums or website. |