Mangarakau Area Tramways

INTRODUCTION

Mangarakau was a remote and difficult area to settle, yet significant industries were established here and thrived for a number of years, including farming, flax milling, logging, and coal mining. As it was that only road access to communities even further south, it also boasted a Post and Telegraph office.

Mangarakau Flax Mill

Flax milling was one of the earlier industries to be established here but all as small operations that relied on adequate export prices to enable them to survive. Transport was always the big obstacle with little to no formed roads in the early days and plenty of swamp. A large flax mill was established once a tramway was established for the sawmill at Patarau, that ran past Mangarakau to Pah Point where product could be loaded onto coastal traders. There is no indication that tramways were used in harvesting the flax, but there was a formal arrangement for shared use of tramway from Mangarakau to Pah Point, a distance of some 7km, much of it