Sites such as the Kerikeri Mission Station provide tangible links to the period of first contact between Māori and the wider world. Photo / Northland Inc
Sites such as the Kerikeri Mission Station provide tangible links to the period of first contact between Māori and the wider world. Photo / Northland Inc
As New Zealand's oldest surviving building, Mission House, approaches its 200th birthday, Peter Dragicevich outlines a walking tour through historic Kerikeri.
By world standards, a 200-year-old building is not much to get excited by. If you've got friends or family in Europe, chances are some of them will be living in houses older than that. But we're a young nation and when it comes to our built heritage there's not much dating from before that time aside from terraces, ditches and some inscrutable stacks of rock. That's why sites such as the Kerikeri Mission Station are such taonga, providing tangible links to the period of first contact between Māori and the wider world. The mission itself turned 200 in 2019, while Mission House (also known as Kemp House after the family who lived in it until 1974) follows suit early next year.
You could drive straight to Kororipo Basin and start your stroll there, but there's nothing like a walk through lush native bush to transport you to Aotearoa's not-so-distant past. So, instead, park at the Rainbow Falls car park and stop to admire the prisms of light dancing across the 21m-high drop. This is the terminus of the 3km Kerikeri River Track which follows the river through dense bush, passing swimming holes, the broad Wharepuke Falls and the remains of a 1930s hydroelectric power station.
After around 75 minutes you'll emerge on to a broad expanse of lawn, dotted with mature fruit trees, where the river broadens into a sizeable basin. As in pre-colonial times, this is as far upstream as you can reach by small boat or waka. With the Bay of Islands just a few loops of the river away, it was the perfect spot for a pā.
To understand the site, it pays to think of it first and foremost as a major Ngāpuhi port, which in the early 1800s was under the control of the powerful ariki Hongi Hika. We don't have the space in this story to do justice to such an important and controversial figure but, in short, he was a bold leader, canny negotiator and ruthless warrior.
In 1814 Hika travelled to Sydney and invited Samuel Marsden to set up an Anglican mission on Ngāpuhi land. A second mission was founded at Kerikeri in 1819 in the very shadow of his Kororipo Pā. Hika was looking to increase his already substantial mana through the knowledge and trading contacts that the missionaries could bring. However, his leading role in the Musket Wars that followed suggests that he may have been more interested in the missionaries' guns than their God.
Cross the footbridge and wander straight into a scene out of an English period drama. First up is a whitewashed cottage containing the Honey House Cafe (pop in if you've worked up an appetite for tea and a slice). Just behind it, surrounded by pretty gardens and venerable fruit trees, stands New Zealand's oldest building. Kerikeri's Mission House (also known as Kemp House after the family who lived here until 1974) was built between 1821 and 1822 in the simple but elegant Georgian style.
Kerikeri's Mission House (also known as Kemp House) was built between 1821 and 1822. Photo / Northland Inc
Behind it is the Stone Store, the country's oldest stone building, which was built as a warehouse in 1832. It served as a trading post and is now a quirky shop selling a mixture of souvenirs and the kind of goods that were sold here in the 19th century (old-fashioned farming implements, heritage seeds, aprons etc). It's well worth checking out the little museum upstairs and booking a tour of Mission House, if time allows.
The Stone Store is New Zealand's country's oldest stone building, built as a warehouse in 1832. Photo / Northland Inc
What's a mission without a church? Just across the road and slightly up the hill, sweet little St James' was built in 1878 to replace an earlier chapel. Call in to admire the kauri interior and colourful stained glass incorporating images of native plants and animals.
From the church, wander down the path, turn right and walk up between the carved pou to the site of the Ngāpuhi village. You'll have to use your imagination as nothing remains of the large kāinga which once stood on this grassy headland. Right at the end is a palisade overlooking a defensive ditch to the pā itself. Information panels do a good job of making sense of what's before you.
Follow the path back down to the water, where the excellent Plough & Feather serves delicious gastropub food from the broad veranda of an old house. The 200-year-old pear tree in its car park holds the title of New Zealand's oldest exotic tree. It still produces fruit.
If you don't want to walk back the same way, head up Kerikeri Rd past the church and look for the ribbons in the trees marking the beginning of the Southside Track. It, too, follows the river but it's rougher underfoot and more of an adventure. After 45 minutes it terminates at the Heritage Bypass road, where you'll need to switch back to the main track for your journey back to modernity.
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