Puhoi Village

German speaking Bohemian immigrants settled this area in 1863. The picturesque village with its famous country pub, filled with relics of pioneering days is a popular DayOut from Auckland. The Catholic Church of St Peter & St Paul is a Category 1 historic place.

FROM THE HEARTLAND OF EUROPE . . . . . . TO THE LAND OF THE LONG WHITE CLOUD

About 45 minutes north of Auckland, Puhoi is in love with its history and hopes that you too will be drawn to visit this historic Bohemian village. The first 83 immigrants to Puhoi arrived in New Zealand in 1863, from the European kingdom of Bohemia; 96 kilometres south-west from Prague. Armed with Austrian Empire passports and a parochial attachment to their homeland, they sailed to New Zealand shores in the days when Auckland was just a rough frontier town. It was the Maori chief, Te Hemera Tauhia, who finally transported the group by canoe, 4km up the Puhoi River to their new home. Disappointed at seeing the impenetrable bush and simple Nikau whares, one immigrant was recorded as saying “if I could have walked the sea, I would have walked back home.”

Te Hemera turned out to be a good friend to this strong and proud people. He gave them kumaras and potatoes to plant, and taught them bush lore; showed them which ferns and berries were safe to eat, and how to snare birds, eels and wild pigs. After many years of hardship, the Bohemians eventually conquered the bush in their quest for land. Today the legacy of these hard working people resides in the number of enthusiastic descendants ignited with a passion to preserve their ancestors’ way of life.

The church of St Peter and Paul, built in 1881, is still used today, while the Puhoi Town Hall, opened in 1900, is a hub centre for local activities. Near the hall is a memorial stone that commemorates the site of that first landing in 1863. At the Bohemian Museum in the Old Convent of 1923, the Puhoi Historical Society carries out ongoing genealogy research. Today the village is friendly and unpretentious. Visitors can sample a pint or two in the infamous old Puhoi Pub, a hostelry since about 1900. And if tavern drinking isn’t your choice, try the 100-year-old Puhoi Tearooms for a home-baked Devonshire tea. They boast that they have the largest scones in New Zealand. Each year in June the old pioneers are remembered with an anniversary celebration of Bohemian culture, inherited from the homeland. And if you’re lucky you might hear an original musical instrument once played by the pioneers - the Dudelsack. It’s a kind of bagpipe once common in central Europe. Ask the locals about another Bohemian tradition, too; the Köchen cheesecake. It used to set their ancestors hearts afire something terrible. Most of Puhoi’s early settlers are buried in the cemetery, three kilometres from the village centre.