Page 52 - Kawakawa Coal

Adam Girven worked at both the Kawakawa Coalfiled and then laterly at the Hikurangi Coalfield. His good friend Mr Moody was the manager of the mine. His father-in law William Ball had initially worked at the Whau Whau Coal mine, then he also worked at Kawakawa. I have attempted to trace a timeline of these events with limited success so far.

The Bay of Islands railway was vital to getting the coal out of these fields and directly lead to the building of the Northern railway, initially the coal was moved out by the use of barges on the river near Kawakawa. The Steamship IDA was used for many years in the later years transporting mail to and from Kawakawa.