The tunnel that never was

We drove through Okaihau a couple of weekends ago - this is a very very small town, kind of like blink and you miss it. This old tunnel caught our eyes and so when we got home we both looked up the history on it.

What we found out is that apparently this short tunnel is called the Okaihau or Kaikohe branch - it was a branch line railway that that joined the Auckland rail line of the National Rail Network of NZ and Otira.

It was the most northerly line in NZ and was intended to run all the way to Kaitaia - it opened in 1923 and closed in 1987. The work started in 1910, opened in 1914 and finished in 1923 after the end of the first world war.

The great depression in the 1930s proved to the downfall and the continuation of the line was abandoned in 1930. After the line closed the NZ Railways Corporation retained ownership of the trackbed in hope that forestry proposals would happen but in the 1990s most of the rails were removed. It is still owned the the crown.

More information here.

Auckland Metropolis Museum

In amongt the modern new highrise buildings in Auckland City is this smaller vintage building that is currently for sale (I'd buy it if I had the money). My research found that: "It was designed by English-born architect Charles Towle and erected in the early 1930s as the Church of Christ, Scientist, the building's Graeco-Roman facade has towering columns that frame its impressive entranceway, with three ornate timber doors decorated with leadlight inserts providing access to the expansive foyer. Arched ceilings dominate the former congregational high stud space beyond the foyer and numerous picturesque windows provide a light, airy feel and an ambience many office buildings lack. The building housed congregational and Sunday school services for 70 years until it was sold and converted into office space in 2003. A significant refurbishment was also carried out with care taken to ensure that the building's distinctive character remained intact. Special architectural ...

Grace Brothers

We have 2 new chickens, both black ladies. If any of you are familiar with British comedy tv shows you will recognize the names we have given them. This one is named Miss Brahms. And this one is named Mrs Slocombe. At the moment we have them in a temporary shelter next to the Special Patrol Group that we've had for the last 9 months just so they can get to know each other before we intigrate the black ones in with the brown ones. These ones give us a white coloured egg whereas the brown shavers give us brown coloured eggs. Linking up with Tuesday Treasures , Happy Tuesdays and Wordless Wednesday .

Vondel

I nthe heart of Devonport in Auckland is this little block of businesses. In my younger days I worked in this suburb as a legal typist for lawyers and to see it now as it is, it's made many changes over the years. This building is surrounded by older style buildings in the main street with businesses such as shoe shops, clothing shops, professionals, cafes, bars, restaurants etc. It's a very upmarket suburb with quite expensive houses along the waterfront. Vondel in the above photo is a restaurant but upon looking up their website, there wasn't alot of information about who they are. Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup .

Coming Up Close

Search This Blog