This Site is dedicated to all those families of the people that have tragically disappeared on flights in and around New Zealand. I only hope that from all the effort in building this site and from all the effort of those taking part in this venture, that it will bear fruit in bringing ‘closure’ to their memories!
Gavin Grimmer
This extension is still there today, but the shed that protrudes across towards the
Chippies Shop was gone by 1963 (obviously put there between 1945 and 1948 – according
to the photos), although I think it was still there in 1955 – according to shadows
on the ground in a 1955 photo.
I’d lay money on the tunnel not going in at the ‘Chippies Store’ as this is shown
intact all through the photos over the years, and so could not have been built to
hide the tunnel entrance.
If you have a real close look at the 1930s photo as per below, you can actually make
out what appears to be a sloping roof line (outlined by the arrows), a roof that
comes out from the cliff and the white area that I originally thought may have been
sliding door hangers, are some sort of giant "hinge", or roof support.
I say "hinge", as at a latter point of time, I found that this "roof" appeared in
some of the photos Martin and I had collected by then (over 300 of them!) but was
clearly not there in others. It seemed to appear and disappear from year to year.
Over time I concluded that it had to be a hinged door that substituted as a roof
when it was open, hence when it was caught on camera, it was open, and closed when
it wasn't! Inside this roof/door would have been the iron gates.
There is the possibility that what appears as a possible tunnel in the above photo
is simply a small extended room at the end of the "Workshop" as shown on the photo
next page (dated 1910), but this still doesn't explain the veranda type roof seen
above it in this photo.
