Open/Close Toolbox
Copyright is retained by the photographer and/or contributor. Please do not reuse without permission.
Format: Photograph
Copyright
Copyright is retained by the photographer and/or contributor. Please do not reuse without permission.
Menu
Lake Mahinapua.
Expand/collapse
About this image
Shown in this image
Location (city or town)Lake MahinapuaLandmark (Place)dairyOrganisation (eg business)Tip Top
From Facebook
Linkhttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?.....9692842999&type=3&theaterCommentsMike Keenan Chris Mathieson what was Tessie maiden name ???
Dianne Kemp Wasn't she a sister to Eddie Keown??
Chris Mathieson Will find out
Chris Mathieson Yes she is
Christine Pointon Elspie Mitchell any relation?
Mike Keenan Thanks Dianne Kemp the penny has dropped now-- you are right
Elspie Mitchell Christine Pointon don't think so Keowns used to have the Hotel out Paroa so could be their relations?
Laura Mills Detlaff Cool pic, where was this please?
Chris Mathieson Will have to get back to Tessie on that one...
Greg Ross Tip Top......talking of old adverts..... someone's mum just doesn't know what someone's mum really ought to know, ...See More
Jean Wilson I have an old Tip Top jigsaw puzzell does anyone know how many different ones were made?
Lynda Manning Wow Jean they sound awesome. Do you have a photo of it?
Brian McIntyre Tessie Boyd told me its at Lake Mahinipua
Maureen Kelly
Maureen Kelly Is that where the Miners' Picnics were held?
Kerrie Jenkins-Henry My Mum used to go on those picnics! They had a great time. She said a lot of the men got off at the pub nearby and they'd be scrambling for the train on the way home. Haha! The kids would have ice creams and lollies and lots of fun races and activities. They would all have a wonderful time!
Brian McIntyre Maureen Kelly ... From my life story .... LAKE MAHINAPUA
During 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.
Peter Robertson We used to hang out the window.Got a cinder in the eye.What a fuss there would be today? All they said was "Serves you right"!!!
Brian McIntyre Yep I remember that Peter Robertson
Bob Jamieson Miners picnic train used to start at Dunollie in the '50s; stopping at Runanga , Greymouth, and other points south. Rose glasses time ,but it always was stinking hot, sunburn and a fantastic time.
James Codyre My mother worked at Muratai House so we got to go to the NZR picnic.Can remember Barrytown,Mahanipua, and Punakaiki as venues
Brian McIntyre It was the end of the world if it was raining and the picnic was "postponed" for a week. That was when I learnt the meaning of postponed.
Dianne Kemp Wasn't she a sister to Eddie Keown??
Chris Mathieson Will find out
Chris Mathieson Yes she is
Christine Pointon Elspie Mitchell any relation?
Mike Keenan Thanks Dianne Kemp the penny has dropped now-- you are right
Elspie Mitchell Christine Pointon don't think so Keowns used to have the Hotel out Paroa so could be their relations?
Laura Mills Detlaff Cool pic, where was this please?
Chris Mathieson Will have to get back to Tessie on that one...
Greg Ross Tip Top......talking of old adverts..... someone's mum just doesn't know what someone's mum really ought to know, ...See More
Jean Wilson I have an old Tip Top jigsaw puzzell does anyone know how many different ones were made?
Lynda Manning Wow Jean they sound awesome. Do you have a photo of it?
Brian McIntyre Tessie Boyd told me its at Lake Mahinipua
Maureen Kelly
Maureen Kelly Is that where the Miners' Picnics were held?
Kerrie Jenkins-Henry My Mum used to go on those picnics! They had a great time. She said a lot of the men got off at the pub nearby and they'd be scrambling for the train on the way home. Haha! The kids would have ice creams and lollies and lots of fun races and activities. They would all have a wonderful time!
Brian McIntyre Maureen Kelly ... From my life story .... LAKE MAHINAPUA
During 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.
Peter Robertson We used to hang out the window.Got a cinder in the eye.What a fuss there would be today? All they said was "Serves you right"!!!
Brian McIntyre Yep I remember that Peter Robertson
Bob Jamieson Miners picnic train used to start at Dunollie in the '50s; stopping at Runanga , Greymouth, and other points south. Rose glasses time ,but it always was stinking hot, sunburn and a fantastic time.
James Codyre My mother worked at Muratai House so we got to go to the NZR picnic.Can remember Barrytown,Mahanipua, and Punakaiki as venues
Brian McIntyre It was the end of the world if it was raining and the picnic was "postponed" for a week. That was when I learnt the meaning of postponed.
Editing is temporarily disabled
Cancel EditClick on the image to add
a tag or press ESC to cancel
a tag or press ESC to cancel
West Coast New Zealand History (7th Oct 2021). Lake Mahinapua.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 4th Apr 2026 23:55, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/19441