1912-01-03 - Caroline Bay Timaru - one of the finest and most popular watering places in the South Island. The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 3 January 1912, p.32. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19120103-0032-02. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/148072/rec/222   View on Papers Past: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/new-zealand-graphic/1912/01/03 

1911-10-11 - Photo of children playing on the beach and swimming at Timaru. The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 11 October 1911, p.30. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19111011-0030-02. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/147415/rec/216

Caroline Bay. Timaru. P.W.Hutton and Co. Timaru. No.1. Looking south along Caroline Bay, Timaru. Showing (above bay, centre) the Dominion Hotel -Stafford Street North (John Reilly - proprietor), to the right of this is the gabled Hydro Grand Hotel. Below the hotel can be seen the Piazza. Beneath this (at beach level) are the bathing sheds. At right is the Pavillion, and far right the tennis courts. - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 35-R1501

Council Had to Be Pushed Into Developing Foreshore: Pioneers of Bay Association Recall Struggles of 1880s (17 Jan 1962). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 23/06/2023, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/361

Section of the original photo of a man standing at Caroline Bay, Timaru, circa 1900,. Taken from the railway embankment, the band routunda, tea rooms and caretakers house and showing a portion of the harbour. Melbourne, by George Rose. Purchased 1991. Te Papa (O.004821)

Children's playground area on Caroline Bay in Timaru, circa 1970. Photographer L W McGrath. Image courtesy of South Canterbury Museum 2014/008.055

Caroline Bay has come a long way from its beginnings as a rocky shoreline to being declared "The Riviera of the South".  Since the early 1900s Caroline Bay has continued to evolve, with Christmas carnivals, the addition of the iconic Soundshell in 1937 and the Piazza upgrades giving the area a link to the urban CBD in a totally unique NZ setting. No wonder the area has often been referred to as the “jewel in the crown” of the district. 

More recently in 2009 a $4.5 million revamp got under way. The Timaru District Council owns and maintains the area, and they included a boardwalk, 50-square metre viewing platform, outdoor showers, changing rooms and toilets and sand dunes in their upgrades.  The dunes are some of the most diverse in the country and studied by university students. Little Blue Penguins have now also established a colony in and around the bay.

After a long a varied history, Caroline Bay is ready for its next chapter. One area that lags behind is the playground, which is why we are excited to launch the new plans for CPlay.

A slide showing the children's playground area on Caroline Bay in Timaru, circa 1980. Photographer L W McGrath, Courtesy of South Canterbury Museum 2014/008.033

Helen Freeman (left) and Win Loach look to the The Piazza and Hydro Grand Hotel in Timaru 1997.  Courtesy of South Canterbury Museum 2014/126.03

The Bay has had many waves of redevelopment. In 2009 a $4.5 million revamp got under way. Above is a Caroline Bay Development Plan Proposal, supplied by the Timaru District Council.

Bill Steans, Timaru District Director of Parks and Recreation, sitting on play equipment at Timaru's Caroline Bay, 1995. Timaru Herald Photographer Anne Hatch. Courtesy of  South Canterbury Museum  2012/186.9372

Caroline Bay Playground 2020. Courtesy of Roselyn Fauth.