Properties bordering Franklin Rd, Ōpua, with a grand view of the bay, the boats and the car ferry.
Ōpua street names a polar blast from the past
The port of Ōpua is about as far away from the freezing wastes of the North Pole as you could possibly get, but the two have an exotic connection.
The roads of Ōpua are named after explorers who embarked on a mission to find and chart the Northwest Passage in 1845, and who famously perished in the attempt.
Other streets are named after people who undertook subsequent missions to find the original explorers, or evidence they had found the famous sea lane that linked the Pacific with the Atlantic oceans.
It all began on May 19 almost exactly 180 years ago, when the ill-fated expedition set sail from Britain.
“The Northwest Passage is similar to the Panama Canal today, in that it enables maritime traffic to travel direct between the Atlantic and Pacific without having to go around Cape Horn and thus saving distance, time and money,” says Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland manager Bill Edwards, who was recently told of Ōpua’s Arctic exploration links.
“The attempt to discover and chart the Northwest Passage was like the Holy Grail of polar exploration at the time, potentially providing huge trade advantages for the country that managed to claim it.”
The honour of leading the 1845 expedition eventually fell to Sir John Franklin.
Franklin was the Admiralty’s fifth choice for the mission since the other four naval captains above him on the list had politely declined.
Franklin led his expedition of two ships HMS Terror and HMS Erebus; but his ships became icebound off King William Island. The stranded ships were abandoned and the entire crew eventually died from starvation, hypothermia and scurvy.
A number of search parties were sent out some of which were funded by Lady Jane Franklin, Sir John Franklin’s wife. A final search in 1857 found skeletons of the vessels’ crews and a written account of the expedition with entries ending abruptly on April 25, 1848.
“The story of her husband’s death in the Arctic waters, the public sympathy that engendered and her determined fundraising campaigns over the years gave her quite a profile among many New Zealanders,” said Edwards.
One of those was likely to have been surveyor HJ Sealy for whom Franklin’s expedition and Arctic exploration appears to have been something of a personal interest. It was Sealy who was responsible for naming the streets of Ōpua when the town was being established in the 1880s.
“Some of the street names are obvious when you think about it – Franklin St for example but others aren’t quite as clear. Belcher St is named after Sir Edward Belcher, who commanded a search mission between 1852 and 1854.”
“Ōpua’s street names – all 26 of them by one count – are named after explorers either involved in the original expedition or some in the subsequent rescue attempts.”
Gordon Coates centenary celebrated
About 70 people from the Kaipara community and further afield gathered together recently to celebrate the centenary of Gordon Coates becoming Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Coates was born at the Ruatuna homestead near Matakohe in 1878. He and his six siblings grew up there and today it’s a Category 1 historic place today cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Coates became Prime Minister on May 30, 1925, after winning a caucus vote following the death of Prime Minister William Massey earlier that month.
He later won a landslide victory in an election held on November 4, 1925, making him the first popularly elected New Zealand-born prime minister. Just over 10 years later he would become one of the foundation members of the New Zealand National Party.
Speakers at the recent celebration included Northland MP Grant McCallum, the chair of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Board Dame Jo Brosnahan, Coates descendant Gordon Pryde and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga chief executive Andrew Coleman.
A tribute from Rt Hon Sir Lockwood Smith, former MP for the Rodney and Kaipara electorates and a local resident, was read out by Dr Jason Smith.
The official party then proceeded on to the Coates Memorial Church at Matakohe and laid a wreath on Coates’ grave. This National Memorial is cared for by Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
“Gordon Coates was known for hard work and for getting things done,” says Ruatuna Property Lead Mary Stevens.
“Among other things, in the course of his career he completed the three main trunk railway lines, he centralised the construction of hydroelectric dams and progressed plans for projects on the Waikato and Waitaki rivers which are still generating power today.”
Coates was also the first to acknowledge and understand the growing impact of the motor car. He funded roading networks from taxes on tyres, motor vehicle registration and fuel and he was instrumental in passing the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill establishing a central bank.
He earned the Military Cross for his action at La Basseville during World War I and later served in Prime Minister Peter Fraser’s war cabinet during World War II.
Whangaroa RSA Centenary book launched
A book celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Whangaroa RSA was launched at a special two-day Anzac commemoration event held in Kaeo on April 24-25.
Titled A Century of Stepping Up – Whangaroa RSA 1925-2025, the book captures many of the stories and experiences of men and women from the Whangaroa and surrounding districts who served overseas during World Wars I and II. It also discusses those who kept the home fires burning.
Whangaroa author Fiona Craig completed the 18-month research and writing project assisted by her partner, Tony Kay, who designed the book.
The book was launched as part of a service led by Bishop Kito Pikaahu and Whangaroa RSA President Rev Kevin Herewini, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Kaeo War Memorial Library, which was officially opened on Anzac Day 1925.
The celebration also included a presentation on World War II in Northland by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland manager Bill Edwards and volunteer researcher Jack Kemp. This was followed by a group bus tour including points of interest such as Radar Hill, the radar station overlooking the Whangaroa Harbour which was established in 1942 to monitor air and coastal traffic as part of New Zealand’s defence during World War II.
The Kaeo War Memorial Library is listed on the New Zealand Heritage List Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 2 historic building and is one of a small number of World War I memorial libraries in New Zealand. There are only seven in the country that commemorate the fallen from World War I.
Funds to build the library, constructed in the California Bungalow style, were raised through donations from the small community. The loan to obtain finance was paid back within 18 months.
‘A Century of Stepping Up – Whangaroa RSA 1925-2025′, $50 per copy. Copies may be purchased at Whangaroa Museum and Archives Society or ordered through Whangaroa RSA treasurer Lorraine Goulton. Email: lorrainegoulton1@gmail.com
The Vinery Lane eco-renovation has transformed the inner-city Whangārei building.