The Ahipara gumfields

Abstract

The Kauri Gum Industry has played an important part in the development of Northland for more than one hundred years. Kauri gum was valued for its use in the manufacture of varnish, paint and linoleum, and it is sought after today primarily for its ornamental qualities. For the most part the old Gumfields where the diggers roamed at will have vanished, being converted into fertile farm land; the Ahipara Gumfields are an exception; here little development has taken place. The Historic Reserve area has been modified by machine washing and sluicing, leaving permanent scars in the landscape where the topsoil has been washed away, these workings are from the later period of gumdigging about 1930 onwards, however, in parts the ground is pockmarked with shallow holes where earlier generations of gumdiggers have left their mark. The surrounding Crown Land on this plateau south of Ahipara is partly covered in stunted scrub where frequent fires occur, pockets of bush survive in the gullies and sandhills stretch from Tuaroa Peak 201 metres down to the sea, the area as a whole having an atmosphere of true wilderness.