Tamahere time capsule cracked open 17 years early after council loses the bloody key

A Tamahere time capsule buried in 2008 was cracked open on Tuesday morning, 17 years ahead of schedule, after Waikato District Council admitted it had lost the only key.

The stainless steel capsule was buried outside the community centre with considerable ceremony. Schoolkids were meant to dig it up as middle-aged adults in 2050. Instead it got opened by Trevor Ngatai, 54, who runs a fencing outfit off Airport Road and had the right disc in the ute.

"Council rang me Monday arvo," Trevor said. "Said they'd looked everywhere. Filing cabinet, the shed at Ngaruawahia, some woman's desk drawer in Hamilton East. Nothing. Asked if I could pop out Tuesday. Said righto."

A council spokesperson confirmed the key had been "catalogued" in 2008 but that the catalogue itself was also missing. "It may have been moved during the 2014 office refurbishment," she said. "Or the 2019 one. Or the 2022 one."

Contents included a Nokia 3310, a laminated Tamahere School roll, a VHS of somebody's wedding, and a letter from a Year 6 student named Ashleigh predicting that by 2050 "cars will fly and Mr Wilson will be dead". Mr Wilson, contacted for comment, said he was "still here, thanks Ashleigh, and the car's a Corolla".

The capsule has been resealed with a new padlock. The key is on Trevor's ute keyring, which he reckons is safer than anywhere the council's got.