Hector, New Zealand

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Hector is a lightly populated locality^[1] on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is on the Tasman Sea coastline north of Westport, and behind the locality is the Papahaua Range. Hector sits on the northern side of the Ngakawau River's mouth, with Ngakawau on the southern side. The 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings found that Hector and Ngakawau have a combined population of 300, a drop of 16% or 57 people since the 1996 census.^[2]

Hector has adopted the endangered Hector's Dolphin as a town icon and is involved in Department of Conservation projects to protect the dolphin.^[3] The dolphins often play just offshore from Hector and attract visitors. Another local attraction is a country music museum.^[4]

State Highway 67 runs through Hector, as did a now closed branch line railway. It opened to Ngakawau on 12 September 1877 and an extension across the river through Hector to Mokihinui was opened on 8 August 1893. The line ultimately opened to Seddonville on 23 February 1895 and was known as the Seddonville Branch. Passenger services through Hector were provided by mixed trains and they ceased to operate from 14 October 1946. Coal was almost the sole traffic from that stage, and as output from mines to the north declined, the line's maintenance costs outweighed revenue and it was closed beyond Ngakawau.^[5] It now ends just short of Hector on the southern side of the river and carries significant tonnages of coal from local mines to the port of Lyttelton.^[6]

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Coordinates: 41°36′S 171°53′E / -41.6, 171.883