Hukerenui is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. State Highway 1

State Highway 1 (New Zealand)

State Highway 1 is the longest and most significant road in the New Zealand roading network, running the length of both main islands. It appears on road maps as SH 1 and on road signs as a white number 1 on a red shield, but it has the official designations SH 1N in the North Island, SH 1S in the...

 passes through the area. Kawakawa

Kawakawa, New Zealand

Kawakawa is a small town in the Northland Region of northern New Zealand. It had a population of 1347 at the 2006 census, down from 1401 in 2001. Kawakawa developed as a service town when coal was found in the area in 1861, but there is no longer coal mining here...

 is northwest, and Hikurangi

Hikurangi

Hikurangi is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand. The city of Whangarei is 17 km to the south, and Kawakawa is 39 km northwest. The Glenbervie Forest is southeast of the settlement. State Highway 1 once passed through the town, but now bypasses it to the west. Mount Hikurangi is a...

 is southeast.

History

The settlement began as Hukerenui South in 1886, with a request made by a group of local people for the land under the Village Homestead Special Settlement system. The village was opened to the first 25 settler families the following year. Although the main road from Whangarei to Kawakawa passed through it, the road was only a dirt track, and was impassible during winter. Gum digging

Gum-digger

Kauri gum, a fossilized resin detracted from kauri trees, is used for chewing or tattooing, and often is made into jewellery. The gum comes from kauri trees found in Agathis australis forests. The trees once covered much of the New Zealand North Island, before Māori and European settlers caused...

 was one of the initial sources of income, but the Government cancelled gum-digging licences after fires in early 1888. A flax mill at Towai

Towai

Towai is a locality in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. State Highway 1 passes just to the east. Kawakawa is 16 km northwest, and Whakapara is 17 km southeast....

 provided some jobs. Some were employed to build and improve the roads.

The North Auckland railway line reached Hukerenui in 1901 or 1902. It was extended north to Towai in February or May 1910, and to Kawakawa in 1912 or 1911

Education

Hukerenui School Years 1-8 is a coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating

Socio-Economic Decile

Decile, Socio-Economic Decile or Socio-Economic Decile Band is a widely used measure in education in New Zealand used to target funding and support to more needy schools....

of 5 and a roll of 142. The school was founded in 1889, and amalgamated with other small schools to a new site in 1949. Hukerenui School moved in 1975 to the site of the former Hukerenui District High School. It changed its name from "Hukerenui School" to "Hukerenui School Years 1-8" in 1997.

The school included a Form 3 class in 1946, and this was expanded into a secondary department. This eventually split to form the Hukerenui District High School, which operated from March 1957 to December 1972.