Tua Marina station opened in November 1875. In July 1951 its name was changed to Tuamarino and then in October changed back to Tua Marina. Throughout the whole time (and even now) there has been debate over whether it should be one word or two words: Tuamarina or Tua Marina.
The problem stems from that "marina" (ma-rin-a) is not a word in common Māori useage. Tua marino (ma-rin-or) means the calm beyond, and it was thought this is the correct name of the area. Which shows the danger in translating Maori place names - Māori often named areas after descriptive events, and the calm beyond is not the full story. The calm beyond what? The Para Swamp? But swamps are calm anyway! The vote against Tuamarina (one word) was based on marina (ma-ree-na) being a Latin word - of the sea, and that words from two languages should not be joined. However naming a place using two languages does not make sense (at least, not in this case - although it does for the town of Paihia). Barrer in 1966 states that marina (ma-rin-a) means "quiet" - tua marina means the quiet beyond. We'll never know for sure.
On the other side of this side road stood a cheese factory, which produced quite an income for the railway. Now it is all Fonterra land and the rail sidings, like the passenger station, are gone.
The railway station stood where the large recycling bin is now, however there are other caches nearby so this cache could not go there. The cache is instead hidden at the adjacent post office and general store. The owners of the store know of the cache and are expecting you and will be playing Spot-the-Geocacher. However you will be in full view of other road users. Please be stealthy.
The Hastilow brothers in front of the Tuamarina goods shed, late 1950s.
References:
Barrer, N.A.R: "The Misty Isle, published by Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd", 1966
Scoble, J: "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations,"published by the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand, 2010
Supporting the GeoKids program - my caches have treasure, makes them fun for kids to find!