Kumara Area

The Kumara-Dilmanstown area is the site of New Zealand’s ‘last’ gold rush (1876). Something of the flavour of the times can be seen in Kumara at the site of Premier Dick Seddon’s family house site, the old town swimming baths & just outside town at Londonderry Rock.

A Quote from Larrikins Lode

“Larrikins (“suburb” of Kumara) was named simply because a party of Larrikins, during the first of the Kumara Rush broke some windows and committed other depredations in the town, that caused the “Man in Blue” to inquire after their welfare. They took to the bush for it, and, for amusement in the day time, they commenced to sink a shaft, but owl-like, visited the town at night. Good gold was got in the shaft, hence the Larrikins rush. The band of Larrikins became heroes, the broken windows were forgotten and the memory of the “Man in Blue” become a blank.”

Visit Kumara’s modern day heroes as more than 13000 do every year on the famous Race Day in January

Kumara Area Walks

Londonderry Rock

© Juergen Schacke

Easy
Time: 15 minutes return.
Access: 1km east of Kumara off SH73
Features: Walk passes through stone-fields of old goldmining tailings & manuka forest to huge glacier-deposited boulder, too big for the early miners to move or break.