Kōrero: Coaches and long-distance buses

Coach travel was dangerous – particularly crossing rivers without bridges. In some places coaches used ferries or punts. In others, passengers took a ferry or went over a suspension bridge, and a new coach picked them up on the other side. Here the Pātea coach crosses the Rangitīkei River, in good conditions. But bad weather could swell rivers suddenly and many people lost their lives trying to cross. Drowning was known as ‘the New Zealand death’.