Reefton

Reefton is a place in Buller District in the West Coast region on the South Island of New Zealand. It is located about 80 km northeast of Greymouth in the valley of the River Inangahua.

The place was 1888, the first place in the southern hemisphere, which received a power supply. Soon the streets were illuminated with the commercially produced with a water turbine.

The population was the Census 2006 951 inhabitants, a decrease of 36 since 2001.

Economy

The town is still dominated by gold and coal mining. Coal mining, forestry, tourism and fishing are the main industries today. The rich veins of gold that were found in a quartz reef near the village, led to its present name, as well as to the former name Quartzopolis. The gold was discovered in 1866, the main arteries but were not found until 1870. Shortly afterwards, the place had briefly several thousand inhabitants. Today the population is less than 1000. However, are expected in the near future due to the opening of a new gold mine, an increase of a few hundred.

Traffic

The State Highway 7 (SH 7) crosses the southern part of the village, the State Highway 69 connects the city in a northerly direction with the State Highway 6 Ahaura The place is located 44 km southwest of Reefton, Inangahua Junction, 34 km north, Maruia is 63 km to the east, the Lewis Pass 66 km to the southeast.

Reefton is located on the Stillwater - Westport Line, which branches off in Stillwater from the Midland Line. On February 29, 1892, the line was opened, but then ended up on the south bank of the River Inangahua River from Reefton. Beginning of the 20th century were a bridge over the river and the current station built in Reefton. The line was extended after 1908 to Cronadun. Only on 5 December 1943, the track was officially declared a passage route to Westport, although the route was served by trains in July of 1942. On August 3, 1936, start a movement between Hokitika and Reefton. One small NZR RM DMUs of Leyland used. Due to low customer numbers were discontinued up to Reefton in August 1938. Early 1940s were Vulcan railcars introduced in New Zealand and served two routes to Reefton: a local connection of Greymouth, which ended in Reefton and a connection between Westport and Stillwater. The latter linked the town with the West Coast Express. 1967 passenger traffic was stopped. The trunk is used daily, especially of several coal trains today.

Education

The first public school was established in 1878. Once there were 24 schools in the area.

Today's Reefton Area School is a composite school that offers an education from 1st to 15th grade. It has 238 students and has a decile rating of 3 This school was founded in 2004 from a merger of the Reefton School and College Inangahua.

The Catholic Sacred Heart School is a primary school with 47 students and a decile rating of 4

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