New guardian watches over miners City Rail Link Mt Eden
A new guardian will watch over workers preparing to mine the first 50 metres of tunnel at Mt Eden for the City Rail Link.
In the spirit of mining tradition, a statue of St Barbara, the patron saint of miners, was blessed in a dawn ceremony and placed in a shrine near the tunnel entrance.
Ceremonies like this have been repeated worldwide for centuries wherever people go to work underground, said Francois Dudouit, project director for City Rail Link's Link Alliance.
"St Barbara is their guardian and her presence gives assurance that they will be safe below ground."
A statue of St Barbara also watches over workers building the Karangahape underground station.
The saint was an early convert to Christianity who was discovered hiding underground and killed by her pagan father.
Work will start shortly mining the first 50 metres of tunnel at Mt Eden to accommodate the project’s Tunnel Boring Machine.
The machine will excavate the tunnel up to the new Aotea underground station in central Auckland.
Aucklanders will get the chance to see the Tunnel Boring Machine at a public open day being held at Mt Eden early next month.
More details will be announced in mid-November.
Poll: Are Kiwis allergic to “exuberance”? 🥝
In The Post’s opinion piece on the developments set to open across Aotearoa in 2026, John Coop suggests that, as a nation, we’re “allergic to exuberance.”
We want to know: Are we really allergic to showing our excitement?
Is it time to lean into a more optimistic view of the place we call home? As big projects take shape and new opportunities emerge, perhaps it’s worth asking whether a little more confidence (and enthusiasm!) could do us some good.
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41.3% Yes
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32.7% Maybe?
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26% No
Brain Teaser of the Day 🧠✨ Can You Solve It? 🤔💬
How many balls of string does it take to reach the moon?
(Peter from Carterton kindly provided this head-scratcher ... thanks, Peter!)
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm on the day!
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Poll: Are our Kiwi summer holidays helping us recharge, or holding the economy back? ☀️🥝
There’s growing debate about whether New Zealand’s extended Christmas break (and the slowdown that comes with it) affects productivity.
Tracy Watkins has weighed in ... now it’s your turn. What’s your take? 🤔
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72.9% We work hard, we deserve a break!
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16% Hmm, maybe?
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11.1% Yes!
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