| The story so far: Construction of the South Island Main Trunk Railway started at Picton in 1872 and eventually arrived in Blenheim proper in 1880, the last two kilometres being built five years after the rest of the Picton Section. Thirteen years later, in 1893, constuction south continued, at the slow rate of about two years per station, eventually arriving in Wharanui, the last station before this, in 1915. Much of this slow time was due to construction being held up waiting on the compulsary acquisition by the government of the large sheep stations, which allowed subdivision into smaller farms (with a wider produce range, and thus a throughout-the-year income for the the rail line) and the construction of the towns Ward and Seddon. At Wharanui construction south was halted for twenty five years. About then the name of the railway was changed. Perhaps they thought calling it the Blenheim-Waipara Railway was a bit optimistic as Waipara, being just north of Christchurch, was still so far away, and now that construction was stopped the line was possibly unlikely to reach it. |
 |
But it was not just men that Railways lost to the Great War of 1914-1918. Cement, hardwood and steel were also diverted to the war effort. At the end of 1916 rail line construction had stopped five kilometres south of Wharanui. Some formation and protection work, such as stream stabilisation and the planting of marram grass to fix the sand dunes, continued through to August 1917 when the drain on resources was such that all work on the line ceased.
After the war heavy construction materials were still in short supply and in 1920, the new Public Works Minister, J.G. Coates, undertook a review of the current projects. Other rail lines (and other works) were given priority, and this line had to wait. Construction eventually continued at the end of 1928. Planting of marram grass resumed. And a year later, formation reached Kekerengu River, with the exception of the Waima bridge and a 680m gap at Blue Slip. The rails themselves still only reached five kilometres south of Wharanui.
Blue Slip, just south of Waima Creek, about half way between Wharanui and Kekerengu, is a section of blue clay. In summer it dries hard and has deep cracks through the surface. In wet conditions it holds water, becomes soft and is constantly on the move. This section, and the remaining bridges, had been put on hold and not started till 1936. It was hard and heavy going, not least because so much extra material had to be removed to install a drainage system. 191,000 cubic metres of material was removed and spread on sand dunes to help stabilise them. This section of the track was finally completed in 1941 (more detail on why the delay to complete this at the next station).
The route to Kekerengu is at last complete and in December of 1941 Kekerangu Station was opened. Nine years later, in March of 1951, the mistake was corrected and the station renamed to Kekerengu. Kekerengu was finally closed in July of 1988.
Near the cache site, is a parking space on the main road - this was the site of the passenger station and platform. The cache itself is on the remains of a goods platform, and you can see that there were additional sidings here. You can drive right to the cache from Kekerengu Store, on the foundation of one of the sidings. Now, only the goods platform and the main line still exist.
The site is now an excellent picnicking area, with a great beach. However swimming might be a problem as the beach falls away quickly and there can be a strong surf.
Although Kekerengu is a species of cockroach, Kekerengu Station is named after the nearby Kekerengu River, which in turn is named after Te Kekerengu, a Māori chieftain.
References:
Merrifield, R: "Beyond Dashwood", published by the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1990
W.H. Sherward Roberts: "Maori Nomenclature No. XVI. - District of Marlborough", Otago Witness, 21 February, 1912
Scoble, J: "Names and Opening and 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!