Historic Auckland: Mechanics Bay
You are in the area of what was at the time of European settlement four bays: Official Bay, Mechanics Bay, St Georges Bay and Judges Bay. Some have now disappeared due to land reclamation and the quarrying of the bordering headlands and the port occupies much of the original coastline. Closest to Point Britomart was Official Bay, so called because many government officials lived there during the 1840s.
Almost contiguous with Official Bay was Mechanics Bay. It took its name from its use in housing the labour force the government had brought to construct the new capital, as it was at the time, before it was moved to Wellington. The Bay had a broad, flat beach where Māori had long been in the habit of beaching their waka.
To get the railway tracks around to the bottom of Queen Street, Point Britomart was quarried away and Official Bay and Mechanics Bay filled in. St Georges Bay was lost shortly after and Judges Bay (so named because the original magistrates of Auckland built their house there) was cut off from the sea.
The first aircraft connecting New Zealand with the rest of the world in the 1930s were flying boats. From here you could fly to the home country via a TEAL (Trans Empire Airlines) flight to Sydney, linking up with Imperial Airways for legs to Singapore and India. You could also fly to Los Angeles via Pan American.
This cache has been placed to remember the presence here of a US Navy Barracks built in May-June 1942. Twelve H-type dormitories provided accommodation for around 1340 men stationed in Auckland and for crew off ships docked in the harbour for repairs. When the Navy departed the barracks were taken over by the New Zealand military, which used it as headquarters, depot and transit accommodation for returned servicemen. In Auckland there was a scattering of camps from Pukekohe and Papakura in the south to Mechanics Bay, Western Springs, and various parks on the Auckland isthmus.
The buildings are long gone but the area still is a major centre for shipping operations via the port, and the rescue helicopter is based nearby.
The cache is a magnetic mint tin placed at the join of two types of fence. The mint tin is painted in the colours of the ribbon that soldiers would be entitled to wear if they received the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. Please bring your own pen and no swaps or trackables please.