Dargaville
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Dargaville is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the bank of the Northern Wairoa River in the Northland region. The town is located 45 kilometres southwest of Whangarei, on the junction of State Highways 12 and 14.
The town is named after timber merchant and politician Joseph McMullen Dargaville (1837-1896). It was founded on the 19th century kauri gum and timber trade, and briefly had the country's largest population. Currently it is home to a more modest population of 4500. It is noted for the high proportion of residents of Dalmatian descent. The area around it is one of the chief regions in the country for cultivating kumara (sweet potato) and so Dargaville is known by many locals as the Kumara Capital of New Zealand. Dargaville also has one of the longest unbroken stretches of sand beach in New Zealand ,and is largely drivable from one end to the other. Home of the famous local shellfish delicacy the Toheroa ,(a large and very tasty specimen),who was so over harvested in the 50's and 60's that the population of the shellfish declined so alarmingly that public gathering of the shellfish is now prohibited. Dargaville is also the gateway to the mighty Waipoua Forest ,a now protected national park and home of the biggest specimens of Kauri tree in N.Z. "Tane Mahuta"(god of the forest) being chief amongst them. The area became known for a thriving industry that included Gum digging and Kauri logging, which was based mainly at Te Kopuru, several kilometres south of Dargarville on the banks of the Northern Wairoa river. The river was used to transport the huge logs downstream to shipbuilders and as a primary means of transport to Auckland. The area is now predominantly a farming region and supports extensive Dairy ,Beef ,and sheep farms and a thriving plantation forest industry. Other attractions are the Kai Iwi lakes some 25 kilometres north of the town and Pouto Peninsula .