Jean Clarke our heritage seamstress

Jean Clarke has created a vintage dress to reflect the style of Mrs Cory-Wright of Tairua in 1916

Timber Jack

Restored by MENZ Shed, Tairua, this logging tool was used to shift large logs and was widely used in the bush when other methods of moving logs were unavailable. The jack had a spear-shaped bar fitted into a stock, which contained a ratchet operated by a system of cogs. Turning a handle moved the bar up or down. One end of the jack was held on the ground, while the spear end of the bar was fitted under the log. The handle was then turned clockwise to move the bar up and roll the log sideways.

Please visit our Heritage Centre next door to Heaven & Earth. There’s always something new to view, audio tapes of days gone by to listen to and video displays. Don’t forget our YouTube videos

Photo Collections

This picture comes from a collection from a man who used to come to Tairua for his holidays from 1956 onwards. He loved the unspoilt nature of the place and the opportunities to go fishing, even though it took a long time to get here in those days. Did you realise that the photo was of Paku? It was owned by the Cory- Wright family from the early 20th Century until 1961, when it was sold to Bill Brewster and Jim Mason. They built roads and infra-structure and the development began. 

There’s plenty of information about what went on after 1961 at the Tairua Heritage Centre
 

Display Panels

Visit centre to see these panels

Tairua trolling lure

Auckland Museum has in the collection a unique tangible link between Maori and the East Polynesian homeland. A fishing lure made from tropical black-lipped pearl shell (Pinctada margaritifera) was found in a 1964 archaeological excavation at Tairua on the Coromandel Peninsula. The lure is highly significant because it was made in East Polynesia and brought here, on a waka, with the Polynesian settlers of Aotearoa.