Photo curtousy of Print Shoppe Opunake

Home of World Famous Surf

 "the place of the prow of the canoe"

Pictures of the beach as it was can be viewed HERE

Opunake's beach has always been regarded as particularly safe for swimming, but there has always been the odd time and tide when special, care was needed.

As early as 1899 the Town Board instructed the' Town Clerk to "have a board written" warning people of the danger of bathing on the south end of the bay.

In 1901 the Opunake Beach Society was formed. Mr Knell the Manager of the Bank of New Zealand, and Mr Blythe a watchmaker, were leaders in the move, and by 1907 they invited estimates for a bathing shed-not to exceed 215. Mr Sims built the shed for 13 pounds. Then a fresh-water barrel was placed on the beach for the convenience of picnic parties-but the report didn't say just where the fresh water came from. (Probably from one of the small springs emanating from the face of the cliff.)

When a deputation waited on the Town Board asking for a donation towards beach improvements, they were granted 15 pounds towards upgrading the bathing shed, subject to the building being handed over, free of debt, either to the Town Board or the Domain Board.

The next step forward was the opening of a kiosk in 1911. At the Annual General Meeting of the Beach Society a year later, it was reported that over two hundred people had visited the beach on New Year's Day.

In January 1915, a letter signed "Salt in the Opunake nines. It said:

"As the bathing season is now in full swing I might point out a pleasant amusement which consists of a flat board 3 ft x 15 in with a strap across about the centre to hang by. The fun consists in lying on the board and a roller takes you on the top all the way to the beach. It is very amusing for young and old."

What would "Salt Water" think of today's surfies-without a strap to "hang by"?

In 1921 the Seaside Society asked the Town Board to donate sufficient pipes to drain the swamp area at the beach, but the Board advised that it could not spend money on "foreign property". Instead it gave the Society permission to use the earth taken from the tunnel between the Power Boards lake and the Power House at the beach.

In the same year tenders were called for the erection of "a large pavilion with rooms and conveniences for the Opunake Seaside Society".

The pavilion was used for numerous social occasions and the caretaker served afternoon tea at the weekends and when picnic parties visited the beach.

That building was destroyed by fire in June 1930-the caretaker (Mrs. Jenkins) was absent for a short time, and returned to find the place in flames.

A Queen Carnival was held to raise funds for a new building, and it was so successful that the new pavilion was completed and opened with due ceremony in time for the following summer's activities at the beach.

Cabaret evenings attracted crowds who danced to the wee small hours to the music of Jack Hooker's Orchestra, or to that of Norman Coburn's Orchestra. Good dance orchestras comprised six to eight musicians, and these two always attracted patrons to dances and balls anywhere in Taranaki.

Dance enthusiasts who lived in Opunake usually walked to the beach (not many of the young ones had access to cars anyway)-but after an evening of dancing it was usually more comfortable to slip off the satin evening shoes and climb the steep track barefooted or in stocking feet.

In 1926 the Seaside Society asked the Railways Department to run trains to Opunake throughout the summer-particularly at weekends. There were many picnic trains which brought as many as 500 passengers per trip.

Local people turned out in force to enjoy the spectacle of picnickers alighting from the train, laden with baskets, bags and babies. Older children would leap out of the carriages and run like deer to get to the sand and surf, but the return to the train at 5 p.m. was always at a steadier pace; the small bodies were much pinker, and the voices subdued. Picnic baskets were lighter but sleeping babies and small children weighed heavily in the arms of weary parents.

In 1934 the alarm system for the purpose of summoning the Surf Club in an emergency was installed. In 1937 the land leased by the Seaside Society from the Harbour Board was transferred to the civic authorities.

Early in 1939 plans were afoot to establish a Centennial Seaside Park. It was recommended that the Seaside Society executive should be appointed a committee of the Borough Council to be responsible for the development and maintenance of Centennial Park and other areas of the beach under the Council's control. The Council was to appoint two members to represent it on the Society's executive, and all money obtained from the park area would be paid to the Council which would authorise any expenditure on such proposals as it approved.

Labour was - not easily found in the mid 1940s, and when the Seaside Society wanted to carry out improvements at the beach in 1946 they asked the Borough Council for assistance. It was hoped that Council staff would carry out some of the work - perhaps at weekends-and the Seaside Society would contribute to the cost. But when the Council staff were approached they were not interested.

By 1947 meetings were held in conjunction with the Borough Council and the public to make plans for the development of Centennial Park. The many suggestions included a sound shell with a concrete area for skating or dancing, and a grassed area with shade trees.

Previous applications to put cottages on the beach had-been turned down because it was intended that ultimately the existing cottages would be removed. But in 1950, 17 residents from Hawera and Matapu wanted permission to erect cottages on the cliff at the south end of the bay.

The Health Department advised against installing septic tanks on sixteenth-acre sections, and wells would not be suitable owing to contamination by drainage from each building.

The Council would also have to consider roadways, footpaths and storm water drainage.

The Beach Mardi Gras had become Opunake's main attraction over the Christmas and New Year period for some years. A National Dancing competition on the final day of the festivities attracted 187 entries.

There was even a Beach Racing Club formed in 1958. They planned the first meeting for 8 December and the Egmont County Council approved a charge of 2/- per head admission to the beach.

A couple of years later (1960) a beach carnival had run at. a loss, and 13 members of the committee resigned as a protest against public apathy.

By 1961 the Society's funds were practically non-existent. Conveniences built at a cost of  £3,000 had depleted what money they had, plus a loan from the old Harbour Board fund. They wanted to invest in a speaker system for the Mardi Gras stage but they still owed money on the cook-house, and the County Council took a stern paternal attitude and said the Seaside Society should learn to live on its income, and pay off the cook-house before spending about ;E250 on microphones. However, the Society went ahead with their three-microphone and three speaker system, depending on profits from the next Mardi Gras to meet the costs.

The next move at the beach was to have an area of land belonging to the Crown put under the jurisdiction of the Egmont County Council. The area concerned was occupied by five baches and the Surf Club Pavilion, which were partly on a legal road under the control of the Council, and partly on Crown land.

The, Seaside Society and Opunake Jaycees bought a Grumman Avenger Aircraft (minus the engine) which was on an airfield at Te Kuiti. It was valued at £200 as scrap metal, but could be bought by the Society for £150 including transport. It was placed on the vacant area at the foot of the road to the beach.

Unfortunately, it was not long before vandals damaged the aircraft, the fabric on the wings had been torn, and parts of the Perspex from the cockpit had been souvenired. The nose cover had been damaged and a wind indicator on a wing had been wrenched off.

Eventually the aircraft was handed over to the New Zealand Aircraft Restoration Group The plane was deteriorating badly and becoming dangerous for children to Play on. As the Jaycees had originally bought the aircraft, later handing it over to the County Council, they were consulted regarding the County's intention to hand it over for restoration. The plane was one of only four Avengers left out of the 40 originally in service, and it was considered the most worthy of restoration.

The eventual removal of baches from the beach was not received joyfully by everyone, and the County Council didn't get many bouquets for their part in the action.

It was not the County's decision, but a ruling of the Lands and Survey Department that beach cottages must go by 1972. Some of the Bach owners were prepared to " fight to the death" to keep their cottages, and they could their attitude-they paid only a nominal rental for the Bach sites, and used the camping ground facilities free of charge. Then of course they were able to let the cottages at high weekly rental during the summer months.