History

Settled by Bohemians back in 1863.         

The early settlers of Puhoi (Slow Water) came in 1863 from Bohemia , an area of what is now the Czech Republic approximately 60km from Prague . At the time the migrants left Bohemia it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the snow, at midnight on 26 February 1863 , 82 Bohemians destined for Puhoi left Staab (pronounced Stod) by train for Prague , with the farewells of their parents and friends they would never see again.

Three days later they were in Hamburg , their port of departure. After a long voyage they arrived in Auckland before being taken by sailing cutter to the mouth of the Puhoi River . There they were transferred to Maori canoes for the last four miles of their journey.

They arrived at two nikau whares on the river bank, now part of the presbytery grounds. This was on June 29 1863 after a journey of 124 days. In despair, in the cold and dark, the women sank to the ground and wept.

The Bohemian settlers started clearance work immediately on their allotted land and began building nikau shacks and providing access between neighbours by tracks. Life was a real struggle.

In those early years the Bohemians had to forage for what little they could find and were close to starvation. From time to time friendly local Maori brought them vegetables and fruit, and despite real language difficulties the settlers gradualy gained skills and learnt what could be gathered,caught, and planted in the first small bush clearings. What little income could be derived from sending firewood and charcoal down to Auckland was used for tools and later animals.

Visit the Puhoi museum for the continuation of this story. It's open daily in summer from 1pm - 4pm and during school holidays. Admission is by donation. Also visit the Puhoi Historical Society website www.puhoihistoricalsociety.org.nz