The island that MiCamp Whakamaru is built on is man-made. It was formed when the New Zealand Government dammed the Waikato River for hydroelectricity generation. In the flooded valley, a hill became an island. This caught the attention of Tom and Gloria Lind who were full-time Christian workers in the nearby construction town of Mangakino. With a borrowed canoe and a dingy, they took the family across to inspect the land. After a picnic lunch, they explored the bush and noted a few flat areas that could accommodate a building. They returned just in time to see a rat scurry away with their last sandwich.
Tom did some research and discovered the island was unmapped, therefore no one owned it. It was eventually identified as Crown Land, administered by the New Zealand Electricity Department. Tom’s inquiry resulted in a lease at £1 a year ($2.00) and in 1987 the same applied. The hill, which was now an island had been called ‘Hikurangi’ by the early Maori, a name which meant ‘Reaching for the Sky’. The authorities named the island Hikurangi, and the title was officially sanctioned by the Lands and Survey Dept.
Early in 1962, the first working party arrived by dingy to clear a site to build on. All building materials and building equipment had to be precariously floated to the island on a raft. In 1970, it was possible to build a new dormitory block with donations made to the camp. Mr Vin Hyde gave time to build it. Everything went smoothly until ‘expert’ Lind laid some gelignite to move some rocks so a central staircase could be built. The explosion was dramatic. The blast dislodged a large boulder which rolled down the bank and flattened all the downstairs framework and foundations as if they had been skittles.
Big Bang?
The builder made it clear that if he was going to continue work at the camp, Tom was not to be anywhere near gelignite. Tom jokingly called it his Big Bang Theory. Records show that Tom used 150 sticks of gelignite during his years there. Notably, the builder was off the Island when Tom was blowing things up.
