Totara North

Totara North on the northern shore of the Whangaroa Harbour was founded when kauri milling and shipbuilding were thriving industries. The first Pakeha settler here was Henry Davis Snowden, he bought land from Iwi in 1839. Maori lived in many villages around the harbour. The major pa sites on this side were one at St Peter's Rock (Hopekako) and Otawhiri Point.

The town was named after an enormous totara tree close to the water which was used as a mooring by coastal shipping. Mail and freight were left beneath the tree to be collected by the locals. Sadly, milling stole away this icon from the town and the future. In its heyday Totara North had the largest shipyard in New Zealand or Australia, where some of the Pacific’s finest and fastest sailing vessels were built. The major player in the business was named Lane and Brown's shipyard and sawmill.

The settlement’s old kauri gum store has nestled among the mangroves since the 1890s. Totara North was the headquarters for a network of kauri gum depots throughout Northland.

Coastal scows arrived at the building’s back door at high tide and loaded sacks of the resin that was in demand for making varnish. From the front door, packhorses carried supplies to the gumfields. Inside the building, the Kaeo doctor held a clinic once a week.

Remaining here are a smattering of settler homes which you might see on a walkabout, including those built for the industrial kings of the day; Brown's house (1873) and Lane's House (1870). Totara North School, built by the community, 1862, is still up a dirt track and children still walk or ride from nearby settlements to the school. They published an e-book for the 150th reunion in 2012. The town hall is an original and so is the Gumdigger Pub, it used to be the Molesworth and Saies Gumstore.

To reach Totara North, turn right just over the Kahoe bridge between Kaeo and Mangonui on State Highway 10, and follow the northern shore of the Whangaroa Harbour.

A great but tough half-day walk from Totara North is the Wairakau Stream Track, which goes to over the Duke's Nose Track, to Lane Cove Hut (it is possible to book the hut).

SEA KAYAK DAY TRIP ON THE WHANGAROA HARBOUR

HALF DAY BAY OF ISLANDS MUSTANG V8 TOUR

Image Credits: Ron Clark, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, and Google Maps