A Date for your Diary!
5th February, 2011, 10am - 3pm, Waterwheel Heritage Park, Spencer Avenue, Kawerau
Our Waitangi Celebration Country Fair is aimed at celebrating the shared history of the area - an exciting event with lots of opportunities to participate and have FUN!!
• The Waterwheel will be working - come and see how they were used in the past
• Have a go at doing your washing the hard way - with a washboard! Learn about the times before machines and dryers
• Crafts - from flax weaving to carving - demonstrations and workshops
• Learn about the farm machinery from past days - how it worked - see some demonstrations - sheep shearing to milking - see butter being made
• see our wagons and engines - the "power of the past"
• Enter our "Dirty Hands - Green Fingers" competition, or just come and see the exhibits. We have categories for kumara to kamokamo and fun categories for the kids - best vegetable, animal, plus gardening tips and advice. Click here 
for your Entry Form.
• For the kids, big and small, young at heart, there will be - sack races, egg and spoon races, poi poi and more.
• And of course food and music - all the ingredients of a fabulous day out for you and your family.
For more information on the day please read here...
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Waterwheel Launch and Open Day!
The Waterwheel Historic Trust welcomes you to a piece of history in the making
1st Public Viewing of Waterwheel in operation
Hundreds of people turned out to witness history in the making.
Read more
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The Waterwheel Heritage Park is an exciting project under development in Kawerau, New Zealand. Its aims are three-fold:
• To provide a tourist attraction for visitors to the Eastern Bay of Plenty showcasing the pioneering history of the district
To protect and preserve the industrial archaeology of New Zealand, in particular that of the region’s agricultural, transport, timber, pulp and paper industries
• To offer to educate and train in industrial skills young and old alike in the Eastern Bay area. Thus both groups will be improved by joint association. This covers a huge spectrum of base skills.
The park will be on 13 acres of lush, attractive land which is being developed into an historic working village with live machinery, transport and domestic equipment. It pays homage to times past, whilst preserving skills for the future.
Our Other Newsletters
and featured articles, read more here
The Trust Committee voted to name our Endeavour after the first Power Unit in this District. In 1860 a Waterwheel was ordered by Sir George Gray, the Governor General at that time, to be set up at Braemar Road on a subterranean stream that was an outflow from Lake Rotoma as it had a constant water flow which did not vary. The wheel was to drive a flour mill to save sending the local produce to Auckland by coastal boats and then to bringing back. Also it was envisioned to hopefully bring together local people and tribes to help each other and to share thus improving their lot. Read more
