Mel Williams, Visitor Services
In the Heritage Park at Kiwi North is a club where rock stars come together.
Their clubroom is a must-see on the Kiwi North check-list for kids and adults alike, with their beautiful rocks, gems, fossils, hand-made jewellery and tactile, creative activities. Who hasn’t picked up a rock and wondered what it is, where it came from, if it’s special? This club is where you can find those answers and unlock the stories of the ground you walk on.
On the third Sunday of any month and on Wednesdays in the school holidays the Whangārei Rock and Gemstone Club has become the birthplace of weird and wonderful new pet rocks and gemstone creatures. Treasures have been dug out of ice mountains and the microscopic beauty within the rocks that ground us have been explored.
Incorporated in 1973, the original Northland Gem and Geology Group would meet in the Hearing Association Hall in Whangārei before moving to Maunu. The building they now inhabit was once a tractor shed with a large trench in the floor for working beneath farm machinery. Today the building houses a gallery and shop for the public and a workspace for passionate club members to partake in lapidary techniques, like cutting, grinding and polishing. It is adorned with fascinating geological examples of our rocky history, and standing by are club members, always happy to share the stories once trapped within the rocks, fossils and gems on display.
Some of the very interesting items on display include an iron-stained quartz found in the Coromandel, a fossil unearthed in Ōkaihau and a large piece of cut agate, dubbed by some children as “Casper” that was donated to the club by a monumental mason.
As well as on site activities, Whangārei Rock and Gemstone Club members enjoy regular field trips to places like the Tinopai foreshore where they search for petrified wood, and Puhipuhi where they dig for brightly coloured cinnabar and other minerals. The affiliated member of the National Association of New Zealand Rock and Mineral Clubs Inc also relish any opportunity to share our incredible region with its unique geological offerings to clubs from all over New Zealand.
But an absolute highlight on their annual calendar is coming up in just a couple of weeks. The 2024 Variety Show is a rock show not to be missed, with fossils, polished rocks, minerals and jewellery, fluorescent, microscopic and educational displays, special activities for the kids and a trading table, rock cutting and identification opportunities. Displays and collections from far and wide always make for a stunning, and often surprising experience, like finding a tray of rocks that look like tasty roasted vegetables. This two-day event will be open to the public at the Northland Vintage Car Clubrooms in the Heritage Park at Kiwi North on March 16th and 17th.
I love visiting the members of this special club; they are always so welcoming and full of knowledge. They have opened my eyes to the beauty within the rocks we so often take for granted and genuinely love sharing their passion with the countless visitors lucky enough to walk through their doors.
Is the Whangārei Rock and Gemstone Club worth a visit? Of quartz it is!
