Rest and Refreshments for Kaimai Travellers

Travel on the Kaimai Road has a long history of difficulties, firstly to survey it back in the 1880s, then to finance and construct it, including the several bridges, and ever since to maintain it. It still may prove occasionally to be an intrepid journey, depending on weather and road conditions, but at least these days it is not an all day or in some cases an overnight journey.

Last Sign for the Kaimai Tearooms, early 1970s

The first crossing on any kind of commercial scale was in 1911 by a coach and four horses with eight passengers run by Mr A. Stanley from Matamata to Tauranga. They rested at Jackson’s accommodation house near the summit where they had lunch. Done over these two stages, the actual travelling time for the 33 miles was five hours and 25 minutes. A large bag of mail was collected by local resident Freddie Wells to be delivered to Matamata upon their return.  Freddie was involved in a horse changing enterprise up there, whether it was part of Jacksons or a separate establishment has not been ascertained at this stage. (information and pictures seem to be emerging as I talk to various old time residents)

In 1915 a service car run from Tauranga to Matamata was established and there was fierce competition on the route over the next decades.

The Hunt family farmed near the lower end of the Old Kaimai Rd. They were in the district from 1911-1937 and their home was locally referred to as Hunt’s Halfway House, a place of refreshment and overnight accomodation for stranded travellers. Nearby local farmer Ike Stephens installed and manned a bowser across the road from the store at Henderson Bros Mill.

Truck and tractor parked outside Kaimai Summit Tearooms, c1950s-1960s
Photograph from Fred Johnston album, courtesy of Tauranga City Library's Pae Korokī, Ref. 14-0450

In January 1940 Henderson's Mill applied to the Matamata Council for permission to build and run a tearooms and bowser just above the present day lookout on that side of the road. The hope was to provide employment for an old employee who could no longer work in the mill and his wife. It was pointed out that it would also be an appropriate site for campers there. Permission was granted on condition that the whole area was well maintained, however due to the war this plan never eventuated.

In 1948 the Tuakopai Bridge was built which facilitated the construction of a new bypass (still in use today).

Site of the Summit Tearooms today

Around 1950 Lester (Des) McIsaac was able to use some of Joseph Swap’s farmland to establish the Kaimai tearooms very close to the spring and water pipe that is popular still. It was on a small flattened area and accessed by steps up from the road.  The McIssacs later established the Fernland Spa complex on Cambridge Road.

There were about three proprietors of the tearooms altogether, one being Mervyn Julian and his partner and the last being the Bond family. Unfortunately I have been unable to speak to any of these families and fill in details but many persons I have mentioned the tearooms to recall them being there or having been taken there for an ice cream as a child. A stop there for a cuppa was of course a perfect opportunity for a hot car engine to cool down and the adjacent spring was many a time called upon to refill the radiator.

Wide load at Kaimai Summit Tearooms, Bay of Plenty Times, 12 May 1972
Image from Gifford-Cross Collection, courtesy of Tauranga City Library's Pae Korokī

Barry Roberts, local farmer, remembers helping to demolish the tearooms building in the early to mid-1980s and that some of the roof iron was repurposed by the Swap family.

Another Upper Kaimai resident Bill Burchett rescued their sign from the weeds over 30 years ago.

According to Bill Coster there was also a private tearooms run by the Albert Prince family not far above the Ruahihi Bridge in the 50s and possibly prior to that. They also stocked items such as flour, sugar, tea, etc.

These days of course there is the Kaimai Cafe opposite Thorn Rd and the Falls Cafe within McLarens Falls Park itself.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the 1950s proprietor of the tea rooms as Doug McIsaac, now corrected to Lester (Des) McIsaac, kindly pointed out by "Alison" in the comments section.

Sources

Tauranga Historical Society Blog article “We took the service car” by Shirley Arabin, 12 Aug 2022
Three articles on THS Blog by Stephanie Smith  — Kaimai Rd  — 22 Feb 2019, 19 April 2019 and 21June 2019
Kaimai Revisited, a booklet printed for the Kaimai School 75th Anniversary, 1988
PapersPast – BOP Times
Phone interviews with Dave Swap, Bill Burchett, Barry Roberts, Bill Coster, Jean Cole (née Henderson)