24
COROMANDEL LIFE
SUMMER 2014
Buffalo Beach Road meets Albert Street
This is a view many visitors will be unfamiliar with, as this
roundabout is rarely devoid of traffic through the Summer
months! On a memorable off-season occasion I was able
to walk right across the centre, and the sense of
freedom was very gratifying! I love this junction as it feels
like it offers so many opportunities!
Just to the left is Jandals café which always provides
top-notch food and drink, and then you can keep walking a
short distance into the town centre. Or turn right and the beach is
straight ahead of you . . . or keep going along the grass path parallel
to the ocean, accompanied by a refreshing breeze and the sight of
people enjoying the water . . . such wonderful choices!
I love wending my way along the grass verge that hugs the road,
with the large rocks of the coastal defence sloping down
to the sand and crushed shells on the beach.
∆
THE ESPLANADE:
This road has provided a vital transport link with
Whitianga since the first settlement. Horse and carts loaded with cargo
used this road to and from the wharves. Until the timber mill ceased to
operate in 1928, the Esplanade reached only this site.
The beginnings of the northern end and around the corner, would have
been helped by the numerous trips that were made by the hand trucks
on tram lines. They took slab and sawdust waste from the mill to the
foreshore on the northern side of the present wharf where it burned
continuously for 20 years.
∆
BLACKSMITH LANE:
Mr. Bill Keane, one of Whitianga’s first
blacksmiths, moved his shop from Kenneth Avenue to the location
opposite Memorial Park, appropriately called Blacksmith Lane (1911-
1925). Keane was also a coach builder.
Keane was the bandmaster of the Whitianga Brass Band, in which
he played the E Flat bass. On one practice session at the shop, a
disgruntled player threw the sledge hammer through the bass drum.
∆
ALBERT STREET:
In 1883 this main road of the Whitianga township
appears on the council survey map as Coromandel Road. Two years later,
it is shown as Back Road. The present name was presumably derived
from England’s Prince Consort, Prince Albert. At this time the streets
were paved with white shell from the beach. VICTORIA STREET would
then be named after Queen Victoria
∆
BUFFALO BEACH ROAD:
Buffalo Beach and Buffalo Beach Road
derive their names from H.M.S.
Buffalo
, which foundered just north of the
present hospital in 1840. See story of this historic ship on page 12.
While writing the 12-page Whitianga Road Trip that follows, we found
ourselves asking: Why Buffalo Beach?
Was there a Racecourse and who was the Blacksmith?
Charlotte Giblin, featured artist for the Road Trip, included these streets
and more in her illustrations and musings, so we decided to link them
with street histories. Claire Fitzjames, talented researcher and writer,
then discovered a book about Whitianga street names at the Treasury in
Thames (see article p50).
CELEBRATE THE EVERYDAY
P. 866 5818
NO OCCASION REQUIRED
What’s in a
Name?
Whitianga Street Stories
Also mentioned in Road Trip:
∆
RACECOURSE ROAD:
The Mercury Bay Jockey Club was formed
in 1881by Billy White. The racecourse, situated on the west side of
Racecourse Road was financed by Thomas Carini. Large double iron
gates closed the entrance – one of which can be seen on the right half
way up the present road. Horses were trained on Buffalo Beach.
The north end of the oval one mile track was in a boggy tidal area. Ti-tree
and flax growing in the centre obscured the view, which encouraged
some “unethical shortcuts”.
Race days, a Bay holiday, were held twice a year; and people rode or
boated from Auckland, Thames and Coromandel.
∆
ROBINSON ROAD
/
HILTON AVENUE:
Hilton Robinson came from
Waihi. After marrrying Sarah Watts (who owned this area) he continued
to farm this property. He was chairman of both the Hall committee and
the Dairy Co at different times. The three Norfolk pines on the eastern
foreshore of Robinsons Road were planted by Robinson about 1950.
Esplanade/Blacksmith Lane Corner
Another glorious day in Whitianga and I’d spent a very happy hour
at Salt, sitting on their wide outdoor deck, gazing over the
marina at the glittering water lapping gently against the
boats. It felt like a real holiday spot, and the other groups
clustered under sun-umbrellas outside were relaxed and
happy, enjoying themselves enormously. I had a chilled glass
of wine and bowl of delectable fries, absorbing the
atmosphere and taking a few moments to myself, before
making my way toward the ferry landing.
Crossing the road, with Salt directly behind me, I was really taken
by the vista that unfolded ahead: the layers of green bush across
the harbour; the intense aqua water and the stripes of green
grass and grey road that were outlined with a peppering of
dark wooden stakes.
