LYALL BAY, 1900

Evening Post, Issue 82, 6 April 1936, Page 7

LYALL BAY, 1900

liONGOTAI TO BS

CHANGES OF 36 YEARS

A WASTE OF SAND

Most interesting photographs of Lyal Bay, and what is now the Rongotai Aerodrome, taken thirty-sax years ago, and valuable information, in view ol the reclamation proposals, have been made available to "The Post" by Mr, Henry M. Christie. The changes whicb have been made during the past six 01 seven years are known well enough— the levelling of sandhills, the blasting down of a rocky knob off the end o£ Rongotai Terrace, and the formation of the present aerodrome^—but Mr; Christie's account goes very far back; to far beyond 1900, when the photographs were taken, and to the time when. Miramar was not a peninsuls but an island. The photographs appeal on this page. The pictures of Lyall Bay and part of the isthmus were taken from th« southern end of Rongotai ridge in 1900, shortly before roadmaking operations began to alter the appearance ol the land in the.vicinity (Mr. Christie writes). A track extending across the picture from south-east to north* west was the main city sewer, the out* fall. beyond Moa Point. On the lefl centre the sandhills have been level/ led in making the Rongotai Aero drome,. while from the centre to the extreme right the sports grounds "now occupy the flat area. The Rongotai knob (centre) was cut away, and. the spoil used for reclaim' ing the low-lying areas. At the left of the picture near tha curve of the eastern' beach is seen the concrete accommodation house used by the workmen who built the outlel sewer. Most of the area between the housa and on to Rongotai knob was covered with heaps of ; refuse ("middens") left by the early Native dwellers, while just beyond the knob there were found human bones, stone adzes, and moa remains, apparently from a kainga (village). Moa Point stands out at' the left oi the picture, and from the reef whiclt extends well to sea, it has been proposed that a wall be built inwards tcj the shore, and the enclosed portion reclaimed to enlarge the aerodrome. It will be seen that the ; area immediately south from Rongotai kriob towards tha sea hkd suffered from the heavy southerly winds, for hollo^ws have been scooped out, and the sand was always drifting. At times when heavy south* erly gales raged, the sea broke through the sandhills and inundated the low< lying area. ' ' . RAISED BY EARTHQUAKE. > In that depression it has ,been foun«f that the tide had flowed up into Mira mar flat, before the earthquake Hao« whenua, of Maori tradition, raised tha land and caused Motukairangi (Native) name for Miramar when' aii' island) ta become a peninsula 400 years ago/ Here, water-worn rocks still containing shells of rock borers (Pholadoe) wera uncovered by drifting sand. ■ A few; chains further on towards Moa Point! five lines of raised beaches were plainly visible before the filling in took? place. The tidal wave that followed the! earthquake of January 22, 1855, burst through about here and swept well on1 to the land and left fish stranded near Burnham Water racecourse, which) stood on the flat about Broadway. In the "New Zealand Spectator" ot February 7, 1855, where reference is made to the tidal wave of the previous month, it is, stated:. "And quantities of dead fish were found-on the beach and at Burnham Water."

The,late Mr. John Drummond, who was a boy.living at Kilbirriie- in the fifties of last century, told the writer that he had seen the fish cast' ashore beyond where the bitumen plant stood, and that a large surf boat had been carried by the tidal wave from Evans Bay and left half-way across the isthmus, where it was found three weeks later, hidden amongst'toetoe and flax*