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Bill Hussey's Memories of Raetihi Back in the Day

My name is William Francis Hussey, I was born in Raetihi on the 30th July 1937 at Ameku Road....

Half a Century of Rail to Raetihi

Oil-fired Jb 1203 steam locomotive heads a consist of empty wagons from beneath the Raetihi goods shed veranda.  At left is Trev. McCoy's Bedford J series truck ready to be loaded with bagged coal from an La wagon. Note the extensive stockyards behind and the one and a half ton whippet yard crane beside the goods shed.   23 April 1964.  Photo: Keith Cullen....

Leisure Activities Long Ago

One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the love of riding “bikes” by both boys and girls. I inherited one from my father, an American adult bicycle, one with balloon tyres. This set me apart from some of the other boys but I didn’t mind being different. These days it seems that you all have to have the same heavily marketed brand, be it shoes or bikes. My childhood days in Raetihi during the late forties and early fifties were spent with other boys on their bikes around the town...

Some Fun Times Living as a Young Boy in Raetihi

(Modern Times are harder to grow up in – quote in STUFF Dec 2021) In 1941 I was only two years old when we (our small family) moved from Tauranga to settle in Raetihi. We lived in what was affectionately called the ‘leaky house’ in Mount View Road.  My very earliest memory was the frantic search for my older brother who had secreted himself in the back of Tommy Chan’s vegetable delivery van and got himself a free ride into town.  What a to do! No matter how they tried to stop u...

Raetihi Saddlery

In 1908 James Bowater left his family home in Sanson to complete his saddlery apprenticeship working for Mr Wiseman a saddler in Raetihi. Eventually Wiseman’s returned to Auckland and James set up his own business in 1912. His brother Harold joined him and became Bowater & Co at 40 Seddon Street (site of now fish shop).  Unfortunately, James succumbed to the 1918 Flu epidemic, Harold carried on under an overseer, Joe Kelly, as Harold was a minor (under 21). ...

From Billies to Bottles and Beyond

This is the story of the ‘Raetihi Pasteurised Milk Supply Company Ltd’ (RPMSCo) as recounted in 1981 by Amy Lucy Jones (nee Ward) born June 1914 in Raetihi and her son Peter Jones, born Dec 1945 in Raetihi and recounted again in 1995. Billies to Bottles & Beyond | Complied by grateful descendants | 20th Dec 2021...

The Waimarino Block

The Waimarino stretches from Mt Ruapehu to the Whanganui river encompassing Raetihi, Pipiriki, Karioi, Horopito, Rangataua and Ohakune. Tangata whenua have been living here for centuries, with the rohe being home to Uenuku.  Raetihi and Waimarino  (now National Park Village) were significant settlements. in 1887, the Government acquired the block. The first European settlement was at Karioi where sheep were grazed on open tussock land. The Waimarino block proved to be a "pot of go...

My Home Town

Recollections of Raetihi by Ngairi Shout...

Raetihi Fire

It was March 1918 and in France, World War I was reaching its climax of slaughter.  In New Zealand, the Government meteorologist, D. C. Bates, in his weather station in Wellington was carefully charting the progress of something he feared might also be destructive in a different way.  A cyclonic storm was passing Norfolk Island, north-east of Australia, and travelling south-east. Soon it must strike New Zealand. The winds would be violent enough to threaten ships and buildings, and tor...

Raetihi Power Station

At a special poll held by the Town Council on 1 July 1915 it was decided to raise a loan of £30,000 to build a hydro station and power lines to supply Raetihi town. The original station was built at the confluence of the Pipipi Stream and the Orautoha River.  The water was drawn from the Makara River through a race, with a fuming over the Makaraiti Stream, through a tunnel under the Middle Road to a forebay area.  From the forebay the water was taken by 15-inch earthenware pipeline to...

A township carved from the bush

A Short history of the town compiled by Dorothy Battersby from her father Joseph Pierce Punch's memoirs Mr Punch's father John and Alex Bennett started the first sawmill in Raetihi in 1893Raetihi is preparing to celebrate its centennial on Wellington Anniversary  weekend  1993 with a mock sale of the 80 original sections. The Government purchased the Waimarino Block  in 1887,  later some parts of the area were sold to prospective sawmillers and sections were put on sale to th...