Remaking Northland history for the good life

On Whangaroa Harbour's northern shore lies the settlement of Totara North, where the past has found a new life, writes COLIN MOORE.

It's called Totara North because of a huge tree that once stood on the outskirts of town, but it owes its existence to forests of giant kauri.

Unknown vandals cut down the totara; 19th-century timbermen stripped the kauri off the hills. But, in the way of hamlets up and down the country, it is facing the future by hanging on to the past.

Leave state highway 10 between Kaeo and Mangonui and follow the northern shore of the Whangaroa Harbour to Totara North - when you get there it may seem the smallest of villages.

It is a far cry from the days when kauri logs spewed out of the hills in a rush of undammed water and ended up in huge rafts on the harbour foreshore outside Lanes' Mill. There Thomas Major Lane and his partner William Brown jun established the largest shipyard in Australasia and built some of the finest and swiftest sailing ships to ply the South Pacific.

The shipyard ended with the sailing era and Lanes' Mill, after outlasting every other kauri mill in the country, is all but gone too. Its waterfront site is up for tender, awaiting an entrepreneur with the vision to carry Totara North into the 21st century.

The hamlet has already made some tentative steps - which is why it is worth making that detour.

Past the near ruins of Lanes' Mill, the wharf and boat ramp have for many years been a handy alternative to Whangaroa, on the other side of the harbour, for commercial fishers unloading their catch and yachties stocking up on diesel and food.

The tiny wharf store, which sticks out over the harbour, looks a treat. Since they took over the store four years ago, Graham Armstrong and Serena Darling have been creating a cosy shop where travellers and boaties will want to linger for a coffee on the seaward deck and perhaps wonder why they haven't adopted a similar lifestyle.

The makeover continues. Armstrong and Darling have resource consent to build a jetty so they can supply standard petrol to the many dozens of small boats that use Whangaroa Harbour.

Now that's a cunning move, as the most common alternative for many boat owners is to throw the outboard petrol tanks into a car and drive into the nearest town - wasting a day's fishing and fun.

The most noticeable change in Totara North is back down the road at the old Molesworth and Saies gum depot and general store.

The store has nestled into the mangroves since 1890, the head office in a network of kauri gum depots spread throughout Northland. Scows could come up to the backdoor at high tide and take sacks of the resin that was used for making varnish; packhorses would leave from the front door carrying supplies to diggers in the Far North gumfields. And once a week the Kaeo doctor would hold a clinic there.

The building lay derelict for years until fourth generation Totara North fisherman Bruce Sanderson bought it to store his crayfish pots and fishing nets. And it still might not have survived had the council not told him to do it up or pull it down.

So Sanderson, who's handy with his hands, restored the store and turned it into a backpackers' lodge with the idea that part of it could become a museum and he could display his collection of kauri gum.

Enter John Goodison, former dog doser, company rep, farmer, seaman and out of work. Sanderson decided the old gumstore wasn't the spot he wanted for his museum; Goodison took one look at it and decided he wasn't going anywhere else.

Perhaps the old building's karma was at work. William Saies adorned his shop with his collection of kauri gum, pictures of sailing ships and mementos from the wreck of the Boyd, burned in a Maori reprisal in the Whangaroa Harbour in 1809. And if Goodison has one enduring reference on his long list of occupations, it is as a manic collector of memorabilia.

He's been patrolling church bazaars, auctions and garage sales for years. You can view the stunning result at the old gumstore because, as several billboards back on highway 10 proclaim, Goodison also lost his enthusiasm for backpackers and he and his son are now the proud owners of the Gum Store Bar and Grill.

In the main room is the legacy of Sanderson's restorative handywork - hip-high wall panelling featuring 35 different varieties of New Zealand native timber. Almost everywhere else is the result of Goodison's magpie passion.

There are glass cabinets stacked with collections of pipes, shavers, tins, bottles, matchboxes and kitchen utensils.

There are cabinets of plates and other crockery from various steamships, including a large collection from the White Star Line. And sitting on top of the cabinets is Goodison's collection of 176 golliwogs.

They may not be PC any more but the carefully knitted, colourful figures, bought by Goodison at church stalls, are by themselves worth the detour to Totara North. It costs nothing to look; a steak and beer cost extra.

But that is not the end of the story. When Sanderson is not working his craypots he is working on his dream of a kauri gum museum and garden sanctuary behind his Totara North home.

The sanctuary is taking shape with ponds to attract wildfowl, walkways, tropical plants and maritime and kauri logging artefacts.

Next step is a museum building. Sanderson's gum collection is vast and various. He has been buying, swapping and collecting pieces for years. He has chunks of kauri gum of every shape, size and colour and many have been carved into figures. He also has a large collection of weighing scales.

The collection is hugely impressive in his shed; it will be magnificent when properly and publicly displayed.

So watch this space, you might say, as you pass the roadside advertising billboards on highway 10 near Whangaroa.