Kaimai Range
| Kaimai Range | ||
|---|---|---|
 Kaimai Range with transmission towers |
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| Highest peak | Te Aroha ( 952 m ) | |
| location | Waikato and Bay of Plenty , North Island , New Zealand | |
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| Coordinates | 37 ° 52 ′ S , 175 ° 56 ′ E | |
The Kaimai Range is a mountain range on the North Island of New Zealand . In the north it connects to the Coromandel Range and in the south it continues over the Mamaku Plateau . The Kaimai Range separates Waikato in the west from the Bay of Plenty in the east.
The highest point of the mountain range is the 952 m high Mount Te Aroha, at the foot of which lies the village of the same name . The area is rugged and divided by two roads, State Highway 2 over the north end through Karangahake Gorge and SH 29 from Tauranga to Hamilton .
geology
The Kaimai Range emerged from a fault that mainly brought to light andesite rocks from extinct volcanoes. The fault originated 1 million years ago and has not been active for about 140,000 years.
Māori folklore
The Mount Te Aroa the Kaimai Range plays a role in the folklore of Māori . Te Aroha means "love". According to legend, the sun god loved the moon goddess. But they could never see each other in the sky because of their different times. One day the moon goddess came to earth to meet the sun god, although she knew the risks. When daylight came she turned to stone. This stone is said to be a rock reminiscent of the shape of a woman near Mount Te Aroha, which is known as the "Rock of Hinemoa".
Kaimai tunnel
The Kaimai railway tunnel runs for nine kilometers under the mountains, making it the longest tunnel in New Zealand. Construction began in 1969 from both sides. The breakthrough took place in 1976 and the tunnel was opened on September 12, 1978. From 1991 to 2001, NZR Siverfern multiple units ran through the tunnel between Auckland and Tauranga as the Kaimai Express . A previously unnamed peak directly above the tunnel was named "Stokes Peak" in 2010 in honor of geographer Evelyn Stokes , but was revoked in July 2012.
Flight 441 crashes
On July 3, 1963, around 9:09 a.m., the DC-3 Skyliner ZK-AYZ of the New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441 , en route from Whenuapai Airport in Auckland to Tauranga, crashed into the mountains of the Kaimai Range. All 23 people on board were killed. This makes the plane crash the worst that happened on mainland New Zealand.
communication
The New Zealand Post Office built and operates a microwave transmission station near the crest of the Kaimai Range after the saddle over which the SH 29 passes. In the 1960s it was a relay station as part of a national network. It connected the Sanitorium Hill station near Cambridge with Rotorua and a branch to Tauranga. Today the tower is used for cellular and other communications services and is operated by the owner Telecom New Zealand .
Airways New Zealand maintains a Secondary Surveillance Radar on the Te Weraiti summit , five kilometers north of SH 29. This facilitates the flight monitoring of aircraft equipped with transponders in the area.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Stokes Peak - Discontinued . Country Information New Zealand , archived from the original on January 10, 2014 ; accessed on February 22, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ Notice of Final Determinations to Discontinue and Assign Geographic Names . Land Information New Zealand , July 19, 2012, archived from the original on January 10, 2014 ; accessed on February 22, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ New Zealand's worst air disasters . New Zealand Herald. November 28, 2008. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
- ^ Accident description . Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
- ↑ Schedule 4: Designations . Matamata Piako Distroct Council , archived from the original on October 14, 2008 ; accessed on February 22, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).