The story begins 150 million years ago when the Agathis family of evergreen trees first appeared on the earth in the time of the dinosaurs (Cretaceous Era). After the break up of the great continent Gondwanaland, the sub species Agathis Australis was confined to an area which became Northern New Zealand. What actually caused the demise of these once great forests at the beginning of the last great ice age 42,000 years ago still remains a mystery. Small pockets of the original forests were preserved by the chemical cocktail in the Northland peat swamps. 

When damaged the Kauri tree produces great amounts of resinous sap which covers the wound and protects the inner timber. The sap congeals into hard lumps and falls to the ground where it is eventually covered by the forest litter becoming "Kauri Gum". In some areas of Northland successive layers of logs indicate that there have been three, sometimes four kauri forests that have matured, died and been buried. At Gumdiggers Park the top two layers of these forests are visible.

New Zealand’s first inhabitants, the Maori, found many uses for the kauri. The trees produced quality timber useful for their Waka and the gum was used for chewing, tattooing and lighting fires. Early Europeans who traded with the Maori soon saw a market for the pure Kauri Gum. From 1814 expeditions arrived in Northland to collect Kauri Gum and timber for the English markets. The gum soon became prized as an ingredient for high quality varnishes.

By the early 1830s the Maori saw an opportunity for trade and exchanged gum that had been collected off the ground for European luxuries. The early European settlers also became involved in collecting gum and began selling it to gum merchants. The surface gum became scarce in the 1860s and the practice of digging for Kauri Gum became more widespread. The demand for the gum was also increasing at a rapid rate and a flourishing industry became established.

From 1870 to 1920 gum digging was the major source of income in Northland. Many farmers turned to gum digging in the winter to help support their families. The ethnic group most associated with the gumfields were the Dalmatians who began arriving in 1885,  working tirelessly to support their families back home. The first world war saw many men posted overseas and the supply plummeted but recovered once the men returned. The price and supply dropped again during the depression and the late 1930s saw cheaper synthetic alternatives. Many diggers moved on to farming and the industry died out.

This site remains untouched from those pioneering times and today yields treasure of a different sort. The site is under study by Dr John Ogden and his associates of Auckland University and Dr Jonathan Palmer of Lincoln University. They are hoping that the results from their studies may hold the key to understanding the environmental history of this unique region & possibly global weather patterns.

Inadvertently the Gumdiggers who, in their quest for Kauri Gum, unearthed the forests that began their life 150 million years ago have also helped us to begin to understand past & future climatic changes.