Oldest buildings – NZShortWalks

Walk #124, 30th April 2024

This has everything – history, a river walk and waterfalls. Also a cafe in the historic beekeepers house which is right next door to the oldest house in NZ, the Kemp House. The Kemp house was built in 1822 and the Stone Store was built in 1835. There’s a heritage orchard and cottage garden flowerbeds which the cafe uses. The garden has been in operation for over 200 years.

The Mission (Kemp House) was deliberately established next to Kororipo pa (see below), the home of Hongi Hika. Without his patronage and protection, the mission had little chance of survival. No doubt the people in the pa kept a good eye on the coming and goings of the Pakeha living there and reported back to Hongi.

The heritage park is enchanting, even down to the friendly goose who greeted me waggling his tail feathers. The river walk has a historic power station, rock formations and two waterfalls.

Kerikeri Basin, the old Beekeepers House with Kemp House next door

Link

Kerikeri Mission Station (Kemp House)

Kerikeri stone store

Stone Store

Kerikeri’s Kemp House – the oldest building in NZ – turns 200

Kerikeri’s hidden waterfall trails: The network of tracks linking five spectacular cascades

Kororipo Pa

This site was the pa of Hongi Hika, the paramount chief of the north. From here they could keep an eye on everyone, including the Pakeha at the mission across the inlet.

Walking around Kororipo Pa in the quiet of the Kerikeri Basin, I imagined what it was like in the past. In the early 19th century the Ngapuhi tribe controlled the Bay of Islands, the first point of contact for most Europeans visiting New Zealand.

Looking at the historic Mission (Kemp House) and Stone Store across the inlet, New Zealand’s oldest buildings, I wondered about the two cultures that had existed side by side. How did they do it?