Mokihinui is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast

West Coast, New Zealand

The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

.

Mokihinui is on the Tasman Sea

Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...

 coastline north of Westport

Westport, New Zealand

-Economy:Economic activity is based around fishing, coal mining and dairy farming. Historically, gold mining was a major industry, and coal mining was much more extensive than today . However, the region still is home to New Zealand's largest opencast mining operation in Stockton...

 and is on the southern side of the Mokihinui River

Mokihinui River

The Mokihinui River is a river located on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, about 40 kilometres north of Westport.- Geography :The Mokihinui River's headwaters are located in the Glasgow Range and its mouth is on the Tasman Sea...

's mouth. It is situated between the sea and the foothills of the Glasgow Range

Glasgow Range

The Glasgow Range is a mountain range on the northern West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is north of the Papahaua Range and its most significant river is the Mokihinui River.- History of settlement :...

 and State Highway 67

New Zealand State Highway network

The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands are State Highways...

 passes through Mokihinui just before reaching its northern end on the other side of the river. Statistics New Zealand includes Mokihinui in a statistical area of the same name that covers both the locality itself and its neighbours such as Seddonville

Seddonville

Seddonville is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is most famous for the historical role it played in New Zealand's coal mining industry.-Geography:...

 and Summerlea

Summerlea, New Zealand

Summerlea is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.Summerlea is on the Tasman Sea coastline with the Glasgow Range to the east. To the north of the town is the neighbouring settlement of Mokihinui and the rivermouth of the Mokihinui River. State Highway 67...

. This statistical area had a population of 162 at the 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings

New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings

The New Zealand government department Statistics New Zealand conducts a census of population and dwellings every five years. The census scheduled for 2011 was cancelled due to circumstances surrounding the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, however, and legislation introduced to hold the next...

, a decrease of 60.8% or 72 people since the 1996 census. Mokihinui's population increases during whitebait

Whitebait

Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between 25 and 50 millimetres long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along the coast, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught with fine meshed fishing nets...

 season, when visitors come to fish in the Mokihinui River's mouth.

In the early 1890s, a branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

 railway from Westport was opened to Mokihinui; it ultimately ran through to Seddonville and was known as the Seddonville Branch

Seddonville Branch

The Seddonville Branch, now truncated and operating as the Ngakawau Branch, is a branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Construction of the line began in 1874 and it reached its final terminus at the Mokihinui Mine just beyond Seddonville in 1895...

. Passengers were carried on mixed train

Mixed train

A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...

s until trains became freight-only on 14 October 1946. The line continued to operate until the end of the 1970s, when the coal mining activity that provided almost the sole freight on the line declined to such a point that revenue was lower than maintenance costs. The railway closed north of Ngakawau on 3 May 1981 and traces of its formation

Track bed

A track bed or trackbed is the term used to describe the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links....

can be seen in the countryside around Mokihinui.