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Kuaha is the area on Waipu Cove Road, between Riverside Drive and the cemetery, and this is a tale of two towns and one building that started its life in Mangawhai and now resides in Waipu.
In 1861, George Boldero and his wife Kate (nee Spurling) arrived in Auckland on the ship Mersey. Their 10th child, Alfred Spurling Boldero, was born in Mangawhai on October 4, 1878. The full Boldero family story is recorded in the book The Boldero Family of Mangawhai by David Morrison a great grandson of Alf and Nell.
Alf left school at age 15 and proceeded to work in various parts of the country in different pursuits including the goldfields in Coromandel and Central Otago. Upon returning to Mangawhai, he worked for Dan Bowmar. Dan subsequently bought land at Kuaha and started a general store and gum trading post.
The store was moved by bullock train from Mangawhai to Kuaha in the early 1900s and Alf took over as storekeeper around 1905. Kauri gum was still a major industry along the Waipu coast and Alf also went on buying trips. Although he was a big man, he always carried a pistol, which he kept with just enough in view to deter any trouble. Alf married Nell Insley in 1906 in Auckland and Insley Road is named after her.
By 1921, the gum industry was in decline and local gumfields had been well worked. From the mid-1930s, kauri gum was progressively replaced by synthetic resins, sounding the death knell for the industry. Dan Bowmar closed the little store, and Alf bought the building and the gum shed. It was transported on skids by bullock train to the six acres he had bought, opposite the Waipu Post Office, now The Pizza Barn. Two rooms were added at the front for a shop and the store was turned into a residence.
Nell opened a millinery and drapery, which operated until 1944, and thus began the varied history of this little house, culminating in 2022 with the current incarnation of home and art studio for long time Waipu resident artist, Patsy Montgomery Design and Swanky Pants – preloved clothing. In its long history and three different locations, this ‘wee hoose’ has seen a lot. One era saw it rented by young locals who had a few sheep in the back yard, safely fenced, until the sheep realised that they could access the street through the house!
Acknowledgements: The Boldero Family of Mangawhai by David Morrison.
