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Picnics at Lake Mahinapua
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DescriptionDuring the 1950s, picnics were held at Lake Mahinapua, which is just South of Hokitika, and they were eagerly looked forward to, especially by the children.
The Miners’ Union and the Wharfie’s Union would on separate occasions hire a train, which left from Greymouth and picked up along the way to Mahinapua. On the journey to the picnic, apples, lollies and ice cream tubs were given away to all the children. On arrival at Mahinipua, the men were jumping off the train before it had rolled to a stop and made straight for the hotel, which was only a stone’s throw from the railway line.
The women and children, all loaded up with food, drink and a blanket for the ground had to walk about 400m from the train to the picnic ground. Right from the moment the train stopped, the females were on edge. The trek from the train must have looked like a mass arrival of refugees, with about 500 people walking the road, through beautiful native bush, to the large open grassed area on the shores of the lake.
Athletic sports and boat rides helped fill in the day. The boat, a long open rowing boat type, with plank seats and sharp at each end, could carry about 20 kids and not a life jacket in sight. A single cylinder engine, in built, powered it and it moved at about seven knots, through the water, heavy with weed and tall reeds, with a slow pop, pop, pop, out through the side of the boat.
During the day, some of the men would stagger down the road from the pub, to a hostile reception from the wives, but were soon dozing off and not taking much notice.
At the end of the picnic, you could hear the steam train blowing its whistle in long blasts, telling people where ever they where, it’s time to go. Those pack horse wives, and tired kids, carried everything back along that gravel/ mud road and loaded it all on board the carriages. One very long blast on the whistle meant we’re off, and you might have thought the Police were raiding the pub, with men rushing out after the train, to climb on the moving carriages. Us kids thought it good entertainment, to see these guys, all red faced from running, some falling over trying to catch the train.
By the time we walked from the Railway Station in Greymouth to Puketahi St, about half a mile, [600m] Mum was really exhausted and it would be an early night for all. Dad would be out cold on the couch in the kitchen, after a day on the booze.
ContributorBrian McIntyre. Date of story events1950sMap[1]
The Miners’ Union and the Wharfie’s Union would on separate occasions hire a train, which left from Greymouth and picked up along the way to Mahinapua. On the journey to the picnic, apples, lollies and ice cream tubs were given away to all the children. On arrival at Mahinipua, the men were jumping off the train before it had rolled to a stop and made straight for the hotel, which was only a stone’s throw from the railway line.
The women and children, all loaded up with food, drink and a blanket for the ground had to walk about 400m from the train to the picnic ground. Right from the moment the train stopped, the females were on edge. The trek from the train must have looked like a mass arrival of refugees, with about 500 people walking the road, through beautiful native bush, to the large open grassed area on the shores of the lake.
Athletic sports and boat rides helped fill in the day. The boat, a long open rowing boat type, with plank seats and sharp at each end, could carry about 20 kids and not a life jacket in sight. A single cylinder engine, in built, powered it and it moved at about seven knots, through the water, heavy with weed and tall reeds, with a slow pop, pop, pop, out through the side of the boat.
During the day, some of the men would stagger down the road from the pub, to a hostile reception from the wives, but were soon dozing off and not taking much notice.
At the end of the picnic, you could hear the steam train blowing its whistle in long blasts, telling people where ever they where, it’s time to go. Those pack horse wives, and tired kids, carried everything back along that gravel/ mud road and loaded it all on board the carriages. One very long blast on the whistle meant we’re off, and you might have thought the Police were raiding the pub, with men rushing out after the train, to climb on the moving carriages. Us kids thought it good entertainment, to see these guys, all red faced from running, some falling over trying to catch the train.
By the time we walked from the Railway Station in Greymouth to Puketahi St, about half a mile, [600m] Mum was really exhausted and it would be an early night for all. Dad would be out cold on the couch in the kitchen, after a day on the booze.
ContributorBrian McIntyre. Date of story events1950sMap[1] Photograph
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MenuBy Topic | Growing Up | Family
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West Coast New Zealand History (10th May 2015). Picnics at Lake Mahinapua. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 21st Mar 2026 14:45, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/1174