PAUANUI INFORMATION CENTRE

Pauanui

'Paua' New Zealand abalone

'Nui' Maori for 'many'

Have you ever wondered what Pauanui's streets are named after?

These streets were named after past Chairmen and long serving Councillors of the Thames County Council

Bagnall Place

Bell Road

Braddock Grove

Brodie Lane

Campbell Court

Claxton Avenue

Courtney Place

Coutts Avenue

Dunlop Drive

Gallagher Park Lane

Given Grove

Hobson Place

Kennedy Park Drive

Lowe Park Lane

McCall Avenue

McCormick Drive

Parsons Dell

Pitkethley Circle

Prescott Place

Sheppard Avenue

Wilton Smith Avenue

These streets were named after goldmines in the area around the 1900's. Many mine names had reference to Queen Victoria's Jubilee

Ajax Head

Blucher Reef

Bonanza Place

Brittania Dell

Broken Hills Lane

Champion Place

Chelmsford Court

Conqueror Rise

Coronation Row

Crown Reef

The Dividend

El Dorado Leader

The Gem

Golden Hills Drive

Jubilee Drive

Just-In-Time

Monarch Grove

Triumph Dell

Uzailla Court

Glen Venus

Victoria Court

These streets were named after people involved in goldmining

Glen Neaves

Mr John Neaves discovered gold at Neavesville

Jackson's Claim

Mr William Jackson built the boat landing at Hikuai, used as a depot store

McLiver Place

Mr Finlay McLiver owned a goldmine at Neavesville

Winderton Way

Mr Charles Winder owned the Hikuai Hotel and had 'fingers in many pies'

These streets include goldmining terms

The Adit

Horizontal tunnel from surface into hillside, often with a slight incline to allow water to drain

Bonanza Place

A particularly rich body of ore

Conqueror Rise

A vertical/steep inclined shaft excavated upwards from tunnel but without breaking the surface

Crown Reef

A prominent quartz vein synonomous with 'load'

El Dorado Leader

A small vein of ore extending from a larger one

Kennedy Park Drive

Horizontal or slightly inclined tunnel driven along a course, reef, or vein

Opal Place

A precious gem

These streets are named after people/places involved in the development of Pauanui

Beaumont Green

Mr Beaumont was Town Planner for the then Ministry of Works

Brittenden Place

Mr Jim Brittenden was the first Manager and 'guiding light' of the Pauanui Club

Easdale Place

Mr Frank Easdale was the Planner responsible for the unique layout of Pauanui

Florence Place and Holland Close

Mrs Florence and Mr Sid Holland were the owners of a farm at the base of Mt Pauanui which was subdivided into Hollands Block

Harvard Place

The 'Warbirds' are regular visitors to Pauanui

Jury Lane

Mr Howard Jury was Office Managerfor Pauanui OBR for a long time

Matataki Rise

An off-shoot of Matataki Lodge

Oxley Close

The Oxley family lived where the kiwifruit orchards are located

Pleasant Place

The name is also referred to in Mrs Edith Hopper's autobiography 'Hoppertunity Knocks', as a place in Whangaparoa

The Dunes

Referring to nearby sand dunes

These street names are self-evident

Centreway

Lake Court

Mount Avenue

Mountain Vista Place

Pauanui Beach Road

Pauanui Boulevard

Vista Paku

Waterways Parade

Pauanui Waterways

Motu Capri, Motu Grande, Motu Hei

Motu is Maori for 'island'

Hei (Ngati Hei) is the local Maori tribe

The Quay and The Yardarm

Nautical terms

Hikuai Settlement Road

Hikuai was quite a large settlement being the limit of navigable water from the ocean, and the site of a big hotel. It's other name was Jackson's Landing. This is where the bulk of supplies for the large settlement of Puketui would have been unloaded and transferred to packhorse or bullock carts. With the kauri timber and mills, kauri gum and goldmines, there would have been approaching 4,000 people living and working in the Tairua/Pauanui/Hikuai are at the turn of the 19th century.