Summerlea | |
|---|---|
  Summerlea | |
| Coordinates: 41°31′49″S171°56′32″E / 41.53028°S 171.94222°E Coordinates: 41°31′49″S171°56′32″E / 41.53028°S 171.94222°E | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | West Coast |
| District | Buller District |
Summerlea is a lightly populated locality [1] on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.
The West Coast is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island that is administered by the West Coast Regional Council. It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller District, Grey District and Westland District. The principal towns are Westport, Greymouth, and Hokitika. The region is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country.
The South Island, also officially named Te Waipounamu, is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area; the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (58,084 sq mi), making it the world's 12th-largest island. It has a temperate climate.
Summerlea is on the Tasman Sea coastline with the Glasgow Range to the east. To the north of the town is the neighbouring settlement of Mokihinui and the rivermouth of the Mokihinui River. State Highway 67 passes through the locality. It is included in the Mokihinui statistical area by Statistics New Zealand, and at the 2006 New Zealand census, the whole area had a population of 174, a decrease of 7.4% or 12 people since the 1996 census. [2]
The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) across and about 2,800 km (1,700 mi) from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who was the first recorded European to encounter New Zealand and Tasmania. British explorer Captain James Cook later extensively navigated the Tasman Sea in the 1770s as part of his first voyage of exploration.
The Glasgow Range is a mountain range on the northern West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is north of the Papahaua Range and its most significant river is the Mokihinui River.
Mokihinui is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.
In the early 1890s, a branch line railway was opened from Westport through Summerlea, opening to Seddonville on 23 February 1895 and thus acquiring the name of the Seddonville Branch. Passenger services were provided to Summerlea by mixed trains until 14 October 1946, when the line became freight-only. Coal was almost the sole traffic on the line from this point, and when coal mining activity declined in the 1970s, the line's maintenance costs came to outweigh revenue. Accordingly, the line closed beyond Ngakawau on 3 May 1981, and much of the line's formation can still be seen passing through the countryside around Summerlea. [3]
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. David Blyth Hanna, the first president of the Canadian National Railway, said that although most branch lines cannot pay for themselves, they are essential to make main lines pay.
Westport is a town in the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is on the northern bank and at the mouth of the Buller River, close by the prominent headland of Cape Foulwind. It is connected via State Highway 6 with Greymouth, 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the south, and with Nelson 222 kilometres (138 mi) in the northeast, via the Buller Gorge.
Seddonville is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is most famous for the historical role it played in New Zealand's coal mining industry.
