Inangahua Junction is a small town in the northwest of New Zealand'sSouth Island. It is located at the confluence of the Inangahua and Buller Rivers, north of Reefton and southeast of Westport. Murchison is to the east. The town of Inangahua is just to the east of the junction. The town's main industries include forestry, coal, farming and sawmilling. There is a small primary school, shops, fire station and earthquake museum. The population of Inangahua Junction and its surrounds was 144 in the 2013 census, a decrease of 15 people from 2006. The name of the town refers to inanga, the Māori word for whitebait. Inangahua Junction was formerly known as Christies Junction.
Earthquake
The town was substantially affected by an earthquake on Friday, 24 May 1968. At 5:24 am, the earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck the town, and many landslides and aftershocks followed. The entire population of around 100 was temporarily evacuated. There were no fatalities in the town, but a woman and her visiting mother were killed when the house they were in, along the Inangahua Junction to Westport road, was crushed by a landslide on the cliffs above their house, while a man died near Greymouth when his car hit a section of road on that suddenly subsided on the run-up to a bridge. Another three died days later when a helicopter surveying downed telephone lines crashed.
Railways
Inangahua Junction is located on the Stillwater - Westport Linerailway, and was intended to be the junction of this line with the never-completed Nelson Section. In 1914, the railway was opened to Inangahua Junction from its former terminus in Cronadun, but subsequent progress through the Buller Gorge was slow. In July 1942, trains began running the full length of the line between Stillwater and Westport, but the line was not officially opened until 5 December 1943. With the commencement of through services, passenger trains were operated byRM classVulcan railcars, which connected in Stillwater with services that ran along the Midland Line between Greymouth and Christchurch. In 1967, the passenger services ceased, and today, the primary traffic is coal, with multiple coal trains passing through Inangahua Junction daily. Today the town is served by the daily inter city bus between Nelson and Westport.
Inangaha was the host of the PHAT New Year's Evemusic festivals. PHAT07, PHAT08, PHAT09, PHAT10, PHAT11 featured New Zealand and many international acts. PHAT is held on flat clearings surrounded by native bush on Rough Creek Road, off Browns Creek Road, south of Inangahua and owned by the Storer family. Approximately 5000 people attend the PHAT music festivals, with 48+ hours of continuous performance on two stages. The other annual event held on the Inangahua site was PHAT MOON, a slightly smaller version of the bigger New Year's Eve's event. PHAT MOON was held over Easter weekend. The music runs for 24 hours, but people are invited to come and camp the night before. This ceased quite a few years ago; the site has returned to being a farm.
Education
is a coeducational contributing primary school with a decile rating of 6 and a roll of 9. The school was in existence in 1887. Inangahua College merged with Reefton School to form Reefton Area School in 2004. The College, which existed for 38 years, replaced the Reefton District High School.
