Waikokopu

Waikokopu is a small coastal settlement in northern Hawke Bay, New Zealand, where the Waikokopu stream forms a small tidal estuary between two prominent headlands. ‘Waikokopu’ is the Maori name for a fresh-water fish [http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/sustainablesoc/social/MIA1.asp] . Waikokopu is about 40km east of Wairoa, the principal town in northern Hawke Bay, at coord|39|04|22.71|S|177|49|30.27|E|source:enwiki-plaintext-parser.

Early days

In Maori times Waikokopu was certainly a landing place for waka (canoes) and the site of Maori settlements. By 1832 (8 years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi) it was the site of the first coastal whaling station in the northern Hawkes Bay, run by an American named Ward [http://www.voyagemahia.com/about-the-region/waikokopu_history.asp] . Other whaling stations were established in the same general area, and the whales were soon depleted as an economic resource. By 1876 wool was being loaded out from Waikokopu to ships waiting offshore [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WilThro-t1-body1-d1-d31-d1.html] . By 1910 volumes had increased to the point where a port company was formed to improve facilities for the loading out of farm produce. Mr EB Bendall was appointed Harbour master.

Railway and port

In the early 1920s the Government of the day decided to develop a hydroelectric power station at Tuai, using the waters of Lake Waikaremoana. This would require a reliable port at which to unload large items of equipment. Although closer to Waikaremoana, Wairoa’s river harbour was difficult of access and had a dangerous bar which prohibited use by ships of any size.

Waikokopu offered the best port development potential within any reasonable distance. Starting in 1920 the Railways Department built a railway line between Waikokopu and Wairoa [http://www.answers.com/topic/palmerston-north-gisborne-line] , and the port was developed to handle larger ships. During the development of the port the ship Talune was stripped, filled with rocks and sunk to form a breakwater to protect the wharf from the Southerly swells. The Talune was notorious as the ship on which the 1918 pandemic influenza reached Samoa, killing over 20% of the population.

All the heavy equipment and iron work for the Waikaremoana power project was brought ashore at Waikokopu, railed to Wairoa, and then carted up to the lake by bullock wagon and traction engines. Later, in the 1930s, during the building of the Napier to Wairoa section of the Palmerston North - Gisborne line, the steelwork for the Mohaka viaduct was landed at the port and railed to the Mohaka river work site. The railway was also used to ship frozen meat from the Wairoa freezing works to Waikokopu for shipment overseas.

The completion of the railway from Wairoa through Waikokopu to Gisborne in 1942 gave Wairoa access to superior port facilities, and Waikokopu reverted to a small fishing establishment and a base for servicing the light house on Portland Island, off the south end of the Mahia Peninsula, until the light was automated in 1984.

Wrecks at Waikokopu

Two ships are recorded as having been wrecked at Waikokopu, in 1886 and 1900 (Ingram, 2007, pps 256, 305).

In September 1886 the wreck of the schooner Cleopatra was found bottom up on the beach at Waikokopu, where it rapidly broke up. The schooner had been bound from Thames to Lyttelton with a cargo of timber. It was supposed to have been capsized at sea during a heavy gale with the loss of all six crew members. The Cleopatra was of 92 tons, 82 feet long, and had been built in Auckland in 1867.

In November 1900 the cutter Coralie encountered a strong south-westerly wind and ran for shelter at Waikokopu during a voyage from Gisborne to Napier. The next day the wind shifted to the south, blowing 'with terrific force'. Both anchors were let go and for a while the cutter rode safely, but as there was no sign of the sea abating the three crew decided to get ashore as soon as possible. After a perilous trip in the dinghy the crew landed safely, but after a short time the storm increased and their ship was driven ashore where the surf quickly broke it up. The Coralie was 47 feet long, of 29 tons register, and had been built in 1874.

Waikokopu today

Today Waikokopu has only a few houses, and little evidence of its industrial past is visible. The wharf has been reduced to rubble by southerly swells, and only a few boats use the small harbour. The remains of the wharf and breakwater can be clearly seen on Google earth. The old port is probably now best known to the world at large as an access point for the Rolling Stones surf break on the southern headland.

External links

* [http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/sustainablesoc/social/MIA1.asp Landcare research - 'Waikokopu' translation]
* [http://www.voyagemahia.com/about-the-region/waikokopu_history.asp Early history of the region]
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WilThro-t1-body1-d1-d31-d1.html Mention of Waikokopu in the 1870s]
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/palmerston-north-gisborne-line Development of the railway]
* [http://www.quarters.co.nz/surfing.html Surfing in the area, including the Rolling Stones]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPL48F-WAqE This youtube link shows the view from a modern excursion train entering Waikokopu from the direction of Wairoa. The train curves left over the road to cross the inlet on the 1940s railway embankment. Originally the line paralleled the road to end at the wharf, the remains of which are out of sight on the right hand side of the train as it crosses the inlet.]

References

*Ingram, C. W., 'New Zealand Shipwrecks: over 200 years of disasters at sea', 8th edition 2007 (updated by Lynton Diggle), ISBN 978-1-86971-093-4