30/08/2026
It's amazing to learn about the history and also lucky enough to see some incredible photos in areas, like the Karangahake Gorge, that we travel through and still enjoy today.
Thank you Hauraki Rail Trail for sharing.
Look closely. There’s a whole story beneath your wheels. Karangahake Gorge has always been a place of drama - steep rock walls, rushing water, railway lines and the extraordinary engineering that once powered the mines. This beautiful photograph, taken in the early 1900s by Frank Evans, captures a woman (probably Jessie Kitching), standing among the pipes that once carried power to the mines, camera and tripod in hand. More than a century later, the Hauraki Rail Trail follows this remarkable corridor through the Gorge, giving today’s riders a chance to experience the same landscape from a very different perspective.
So next time you ride through Karangahake, slow down for a moment. Look up at the rock walls. Look along the old railway. Look closely at the traces of the people, machinery and ingenuity that shaped this place. The landscape is beautiful and the story beneath it even better.
Photo credit: Frank Evans, 1900s
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1826-062
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/
