One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations in and around Marlborough.
Welcome aboard the South Island Main Trunk rail service to Kaikoura! Last stop Clarence Bridge, next stop Hapuka.
Railway construction along the coast from Blenheim to Christchurch was slow and full of stops and starts, much of that due to the intervening wars. The 1930s depression stopped all construction with just 128 kilometres centred about Kaikoura remaining. Most of the plant and stores were sold. Construction restarted in 1936 with the advantage of new equipment - Diesel powered shovels were a significant improvement on the old steam powered technology. The first thing to be built was the accommodation - the northern headquarters were built here, at Aniseed, named after the local Aniseed Valley. The camp was so large it even had a school with three teachers. Buildings were of two types - the single men's quarters that were not much more than a single room hut, and the married quarters which consisted of a central room and two bedrooms. Cooking was via a coal stove, electricity was reserved for lighting only. The outside toilets were serviced by a night cart.
Building the tunnels was the major problem, and all four here were worked on simultaneously. Two of the tunnels were not even part of the original survey - it was decided to add them rather than to undercut the toe of the mountainside. Diesel locomotives with exhaust gas scrubbers were employed in the tunnelling work - another big improvement over steam.
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Aniseed construction camp
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Aniseed station was built in 1939, just in time for Aniseed Camp to be disbanded. Progress was so good that the headquarters camp of Aniseed was merged with the southern headquarters camp (for the rail construction progressing north to Kaikoura). Some of the workforce was sent to Kaikoura, and the some to Clarence, and the buildings went with them. Work here progressed on finishing the tunnels and sea walls, and clearing slips from a storm in 1941. In 1942 work ceased yet again and Aniseed station was closed, as effort and materials were diverted to the war. However this was short-lived, when it was realised that finishing the railroad would save on tyres and fuel which were desperately needed for the war effort.
In March 1944 the line was completed to Kaikoura, and Aniseed station was reopened as Rakautara, as Aniseed Valley (and Aniseed Stream) had also been renamed to Rakautara. I guess sufficient population had stayed on after the camp was split. Rakautara Station was finally closed in 1992.
The shelter shed still exists and can be seen 260m south at the waypoint. I would have liked to place this cache there, and I do hope to move it one day, but the area there is being used to store bridge parts, and I would not even trust the flaxes or fences there to be safe from being squashed by heavy machinery.
Aniseed is a stongly flavoured seed oil sometimes used in cough drops. The plant is not native to New Zealand, nor are there any native plants with a similar taste. I have no idea why it was chosen for the name of the valley. Rākautara means "tree-point".
The local people know of the cache and are probably playing Spot the geocacher.
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Construction near Aniseed
Yes, that is State Highway 1 that you see there!
Rakautara station, February 2018.
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Building the railway again. Scenes from the November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake.
References:
Merrifield, R: "Beyond Dashwood", published by the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1990
Scoble, J: "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations", Published by Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand, 2010.
Langbein, A: "A boy's life at Aniseed railway camp", www.teara.govt.nz
"Growing Up in New Zealand 1925-1950 Part 25 - Life in the Public Works Camps on the Kaikoura Coast in the 1930s ", www.nzine.co.nz
https://teara.govt.nz/en/community-contribution/34437/a-boys-life-at-aniseed-railway-camp
Supporting the GeoKids program - my caches have treasure, makes them fun for kids to find!