Gumdiggers Park

Northland's swamps preserve whole kauri forests that fell and were buried - one layer here dates to around 45,000 years ago and another to about 100,000, the trees still intact enough to be milled. In the nineteenth century the resin from those buried trees, kauri gum, was a major export used in varnish and linoleum, and thousands of diggers worked these fields, many of them Dalmatian immigrants from what is now Croatia who later founded the north's wine industry. Gumdiggers Park is a preserved section of one field with original holes, reconstructed gumdigger huts, the tools, and pits opened to show the buried logs in place. It is a small privately run site and the interest is entirely in the story - the physical remains are holes in the ground and rough huts, which is honest to the subject but not spectacular.

What you actually see

• The original holes - the gumfield left as the diggers left it.
• The buried kauri - logs 45,000 and about 100,000 years old, exposed in pits.
• The reconstructed huts - how the diggers actually lived.
• The Dalmatian story - the immigrant workforce behind the trade.

When to go

Any season; the tracks are muddy after rain. Allow an hour or two. It is on the road to Cape Reinga, so it fits a Far North drive.

Honest expectations

Small and low-key - holes, huts and interpretation boards. The value is the story rather than the sight. Privately run with limited facilities.

Nearby

Awanui and the Ancient Kauri Kingdom are close; Cape Reinga is north.