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 Hapuka, next stop... further south.
At last! After 75 long years, Julius Vogel's vision of a country connected by rail has come true, with the connection of the South Island rail into Kaikoura. But before I get to that, I recommend that you, if you haven't already, read the history of this rail line and this cache series, starting from where it all began, at Picton.
Once the railhead had been pushed through the difficult coast north of Hapuka, getting the rest of the way into Kaikoura was easy and straightforward. Except that originally it was not going to happen - Kaikoura was to be bypassed. Saner heads prevailed and in 1936, while construction between Parikawa and Clarence was still underway, the largest town between Blenheim and greater Christchurch was included.
Kaikoura station was opened on 11 March 1944, by Hon. Robert Semple, the Minister of Public Works, cutting the ribbon while riding the cow-catcher of a steam locomotive. Next year, on 29 December 1945, he drove a Vulcan railcar through the ribbon to open the track south, completing the route from Picton to Christchurch, and hence to Bluff. Initial service between Picton and Christchurch consisted of a daily return express passenger train and another for mixed goods. However Railways were unable to meet demand and services due to shortages of coal, wagons, materials and deferred maintenance and qualified engine drivers, all results of the war. Passenger service was dropped to three times per week then to Mondays and Fridays only. Compounding this was the increased affordability of private cars after the war. However goods trains grew to three each way daily, although up to six percent was diverted to trucks and airfreight.
The railway station is still open however much of the site has been taken up by two major tourism operators. As such please be stealthy when retrieving the cache and, especially if there are a lot of tourists about, please use the hint.
Kaikoura is said to have been named by Tamatea Pokai-Whenua (Tamatea who circled the land), who landed near here, seeking three of his wives who had deserted him and fled southwards. Here he had a feast (kai) of crayfish (koura) and named the area after the meal. It must have been a pretty good dinner! And just out of interest, the full name of Kaikoura is Te Ahi-kai-koura-a-Tamatea-pokai-whenua, which means “the fire which Tamatea-pokai-whenua made to cook crayfish”
Kaikoura station opening, 15 December 1945
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.
Sherwood Roberts, W: "Maori Nomenclature - Maori Names of Places in the District of Marlborough", Marlborough Express Supplement, 26 September 1903.
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