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Kevin Nolan delivering 95 Kerosene tins of Whitebait to the Nolan Whitebait Cannery in Okuru.1940.
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DescriptionThis is my Late father Kevin Nolan a South Westland Legend with his great team of horses. He is crossing the Haast River delivering Whitebait down to the Nolan Whitebait Cannery in Okuru.
Photo taken in 1940 by Mr M Larsen.Date of Photo1940Map[1] ContributorDenise Bowen
Photo taken in 1940 by Mr M Larsen.Date of Photo1940Map[1] ContributorDenise Bowen
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Location (city or town)OkuruPersonKevin Nolan
Category Information
Category Tagwhitebaiting
From Facebook
Date Created28th September 2021CommentsMiree Gibson
Amazing pic !!
Warren Thomson
I recall the 1940's Totara River Ross. Spring Tide. River black with whitebait for a short time. Jim & Dave Thomson (no relation) had two horses and lined drays in tandem. Emptying the nets into the drays and back to the freezer at farmhouse.
Anne Boddy
Warren Thomson great history I remember my Dad when he was living in Ross as a child They only ate whitebait so much that Gran put on the garden. Right up to his passing he wouldnt each whitebait.
Dorothy Wills
Great picture he must have had them well tied on with the river crossing
Patsy Grant
Amazing photo
Liz Hall
Great memories. Karl Hall
Lynnie Alexander
Clearly a man who knew how yo give those horses confidence
What a great photo
Craig Austin
Nice
John James Kelly
amazing deeds of yore - kerosene tins ? hopefully were new, not recycled
Doreen Thomson
John James Kelly Kerosene Tins were 4gallons in size and were used as well for many purposes as they were square and if I recall correctly they held almost 40lb of drained whitebait
Brodie Champain Archer
Looks like a different team of horses, and depth of river - but do you know if the driver or location might be the same as in my photo?
May be an image of horse and outdoors
Christine Hoets
Woww yes I remember filling the kerosene tins with whitebait ,they were brand new shinny tins ,and making the wooden boxes , that was the good old days ,A great horse man was Kevin Nolan,
]
Jim Galloway
Denise Bowen, He was a legend. I have many fond memories of Kevin.
Dawn Pratt
WHAT A GREAT PHOTO LOVE THOSE HORSES
Dawn Pratt
Memories
Samarra Wright-Scott
May be art of nature and body of water
Shirley Merrick
Yuummmmmm. Could really do with a good feed of West Coast whitebait. The best in New Zealand!!!
Linda Hay
Mum said there was sometimes so much whitebait left over they fed it to the cat Also dug it into the garden for fertiliser
Bert Chandler
No wet spark plugs there, good horses.
Warren Thomson
As a kid I wheeled whitebait around Ross in a wheelbarrow to hotels etc 1/6 pint. Whitebait for breakfast most mornings. Balance dug into garden as fertiliser. Ross had no domestic electricity at the time.
Susan Carrington Baistow Siddall
Wow what a great photo
Margaret Grant
Wow what a fab photo
Annette C Maw
You Haast Nolan's were the real pioneers of the South. Treasured memories for you. Stories of digging whitebait into the garden, my father Tom Nolan always said when there was a glut of whitebait that's what happened to the surplus in those early days as no refrigeration.
Mary Hood
Everyone on the Coast knew of the Nolans
Greg Patrick
Mary Hood still plenty of Nolan's on the coast
Warren Thomson
Also if I recall correctly Cecil and Eric Mitchell opened up Bruce Bay for whitebaiting. I think they bulldozed an airstrip. Possibly late 1940's.
Warner Nut Curry
What an incredible photo
Kevin Bell
A great man and him and Pat always looked after our band when we played for the whitebaiters and deerstalkers balls at Okuru back in the late 60s.
Darren Kirner
That pic is a cracker‼️
Cheryl Johnston
Middle leader in that team looks to be the only one getting
Paula Smith
Imagine having that much confidence in your team to feel safe in that situation. Standing up, too! Amazing.
The river is fairly high. Two or three of those horses were around in my day. They were full draught.
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson
Imagine eating whitebait that had been stored in kerosene tins, noice
Rose Nolan
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson they were new tins. Don’t know where the name kerosene came from. Many tins were made at the whitebait factory. Think kerosene, oil originally stored in tins but tops different and whitebait never went into tins that had contained fuel
Di Kelly
It was an informal measure - like half g or barrel. Can't help but dream of all that whitebait from here in NSW sigh!
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson
when I came to the coast in 1992, around then or shortly after the IRD ventured down to the Grey River harrassing people about selling whitebait and not paying tax, and one resourceful character popped into the IRD and tipped a bucket of bait on the desk of a employee [in those days they were in a office that you could walk straight into] I learnt about it from a newspaper article.
Russ Bowden
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson - the whitebait was always stored in kero tins - they were clean and had never been used for kerosene- enjoyed many meals from the tins
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson
ahha, that sounds better, lol
Kath Ryan-Hayward
Thank you for sharing this, how times have changed
Stewart Cron
Amazing.... but demanding and difficult times.
Anna Wright
What a great photo to have.
Pete Lusk
Wonderful shot,he must’ve known the crossing
Tim Tyrrell-Baxter
My Grandfather Noel Gallop, used to drive teams in and out of central Canterbury high country stations, top of the Rakaia, Wilberforce, etc. In the 30's I believe. He told me a few stories. How the Wilberforce would flood and he'd be stranded on one side or another for days. I remember one where he said when he was driving out, a couple of bulls were fighting hammer and tongs. Three days later when he returned, they were still at it. I always secretly believed that they took a time out until he came back......
Always wished I had asked him more about it when he was alive.
Maurice Bill Douglas
Awesome photo with Kevin Nolan and his team.
Ray Deo
That would be challenging for a modern truck any size.
Margaret Grant
Wow what a fab photo
Susan Carrington Baistow Siddall
Wow what a great photo
Bert Chandler
No wet spark plugs there, good horses.
Dawn Pratt
Memories
Patsy Grant
Amazing photo
Miree Gibson
Amazing pic !!
Amazing pic !!
Warren Thomson
I recall the 1940's Totara River Ross. Spring Tide. River black with whitebait for a short time. Jim & Dave Thomson (no relation) had two horses and lined drays in tandem. Emptying the nets into the drays and back to the freezer at farmhouse.
Anne Boddy
Warren Thomson great history I remember my Dad when he was living in Ross as a child They only ate whitebait so much that Gran put on the garden. Right up to his passing he wouldnt each whitebait.
Dorothy Wills
Great picture he must have had them well tied on with the river crossing
Patsy Grant
Amazing photo
Liz Hall
Great memories. Karl Hall
Lynnie Alexander
Clearly a man who knew how yo give those horses confidence
What a great photo
Craig Austin
Nice
John James Kelly
amazing deeds of yore - kerosene tins ? hopefully were new, not recycled
Doreen Thomson
John James Kelly Kerosene Tins were 4gallons in size and were used as well for many purposes as they were square and if I recall correctly they held almost 40lb of drained whitebait
Brodie Champain Archer
Looks like a different team of horses, and depth of river - but do you know if the driver or location might be the same as in my photo?
May be an image of horse and outdoors
Christine Hoets
Woww yes I remember filling the kerosene tins with whitebait ,they were brand new shinny tins ,and making the wooden boxes , that was the good old days ,A great horse man was Kevin Nolan,
]
Jim Galloway
Denise Bowen, He was a legend. I have many fond memories of Kevin.
Dawn Pratt
WHAT A GREAT PHOTO LOVE THOSE HORSES
Dawn Pratt
Memories
Samarra Wright-Scott
May be art of nature and body of water
Shirley Merrick
Yuummmmmm. Could really do with a good feed of West Coast whitebait. The best in New Zealand!!!
Linda Hay
Mum said there was sometimes so much whitebait left over they fed it to the cat Also dug it into the garden for fertiliser
Bert Chandler
No wet spark plugs there, good horses.
Warren Thomson
As a kid I wheeled whitebait around Ross in a wheelbarrow to hotels etc 1/6 pint. Whitebait for breakfast most mornings. Balance dug into garden as fertiliser. Ross had no domestic electricity at the time.
Susan Carrington Baistow Siddall
Wow what a great photo
Margaret Grant
Wow what a fab photo
Annette C Maw
You Haast Nolan's were the real pioneers of the South. Treasured memories for you. Stories of digging whitebait into the garden, my father Tom Nolan always said when there was a glut of whitebait that's what happened to the surplus in those early days as no refrigeration.
Mary Hood
Everyone on the Coast knew of the Nolans
Greg Patrick
Mary Hood still plenty of Nolan's on the coast
Warren Thomson
Also if I recall correctly Cecil and Eric Mitchell opened up Bruce Bay for whitebaiting. I think they bulldozed an airstrip. Possibly late 1940's.
Warner Nut Curry
What an incredible photo
Kevin Bell
A great man and him and Pat always looked after our band when we played for the whitebaiters and deerstalkers balls at Okuru back in the late 60s.
Darren Kirner
That pic is a cracker‼️
Cheryl Johnston
Middle leader in that team looks to be the only one getting
Paula Smith
Imagine having that much confidence in your team to feel safe in that situation. Standing up, too! Amazing.
The river is fairly high. Two or three of those horses were around in my day. They were full draught.
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson
Imagine eating whitebait that had been stored in kerosene tins, noice
Rose Nolan
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson they were new tins. Don’t know where the name kerosene came from. Many tins were made at the whitebait factory. Think kerosene, oil originally stored in tins but tops different and whitebait never went into tins that had contained fuel
Di Kelly
It was an informal measure - like half g or barrel. Can't help but dream of all that whitebait from here in NSW sigh!
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson
when I came to the coast in 1992, around then or shortly after the IRD ventured down to the Grey River harrassing people about selling whitebait and not paying tax, and one resourceful character popped into the IRD and tipped a bucket of bait on the desk of a employee [in those days they were in a office that you could walk straight into] I learnt about it from a newspaper article.
Russ Bowden
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson - the whitebait was always stored in kero tins - they were clean and had never been used for kerosene- enjoyed many meals from the tins
Raelene Beth Wendi Wilson
ahha, that sounds better, lol
Kath Ryan-Hayward
Thank you for sharing this, how times have changed
Stewart Cron
Amazing.... but demanding and difficult times.
Anna Wright
What a great photo to have.
Pete Lusk
Wonderful shot,he must’ve known the crossing
Tim Tyrrell-Baxter
My Grandfather Noel Gallop, used to drive teams in and out of central Canterbury high country stations, top of the Rakaia, Wilberforce, etc. In the 30's I believe. He told me a few stories. How the Wilberforce would flood and he'd be stranded on one side or another for days. I remember one where he said when he was driving out, a couple of bulls were fighting hammer and tongs. Three days later when he returned, they were still at it. I always secretly believed that they took a time out until he came back......
Always wished I had asked him more about it when he was alive.
Maurice Bill Douglas
Awesome photo with Kevin Nolan and his team.
Ray Deo
That would be challenging for a modern truck any size.
Margaret Grant
Wow what a fab photo
Susan Carrington Baistow Siddall
Wow what a great photo
Bert Chandler
No wet spark plugs there, good horses.
Dawn Pratt
Memories
Patsy Grant
Amazing photo
Miree Gibson
Amazing pic !!
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West Coast New Zealand History (3rd Jan 2024). Kevin Nolan delivering 95 Kerosene tins of Whitebait to the Nolan Whitebait Cannery in Okuru.1940.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 8th Apr 2026 10:50, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/30116