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Before you grizzle about the state of the roads today, think back to what earlier generations had to cope with.
By the early 1920s motoring was taking off in NZ and while there might have been only a few cars in what is now the Hibiscus Coast, there were at least 70 motorists in Warkworth. Most cars were imported from the USA as they were cheaper than the British models and the after sales service was apparently superior. Adventurers wrote detailed reports of their journeys and the places they visited. A run from Auckland to Orewa was a favourite trip and motorists were enthusiastic about the beautiful beach surrounded by green hills. One visitor commented that it was a great place to build a town and he could imagine all the distant hills covered with bungalows!
The biggest snag was the state of the roads. The road from Dairy Flat to Silverdale came in for particularly harsh criticism. Built on clay, it was virtually impassable in wet weather and travellers were advised to carry chains. Driving along Orewa Beach was preferable to the recently built main road.
Signposts had only just started to appear and there were complaints that these showed destinations but gave no indication of mileage. One correspondent suggested that the name of each settlement should be painted on the schools so that people knew where they were.
Most early cars were open tourers (imagine the dust in summer) but by the mid-1920s more closed cars were imported. Early motorists used hand signals to indicate which way they were turning; these could not be seen at night. One enterprising driver invented a device to fit onto the bonnet that lit up to show his intention to turn.
Steam and electric cars were experimented with. Motorists complained about the price of petrol and one columnist (in 1923) speculated that by 1973 steam and electric cars would replace oil fuelled vehicles. He also predicted that traffic control would be a problem. Intersections in the 1920s were controlled by “pointsmen”. Pedestrians were generally seen as a nuisance to motorists. People were not used to cars – children played in the streets and left behind rocks and litter and tried to poke sticks through the spokes of slow moving vehicles. People crossed busy streets right in front of cars. It took time to adjust to this splendid new craze.
Museum news: Pioneer Village open Sat/Sun 10am–3pm • 1860s Chapel and gardens available for weddings • July 3 Midwinter Lunch at the Bistro, Dairy Flat $25. Phone 424 8615 to book.
