Out at the western edge of the Waitākere Ranges, where the bush meets the harbour The Huia Settlers Museum preserves the stories, photographs and everyday treasures of the people who built lives in this corner of The West, and on Sunday 20 September, they’re inviting the community to come and hear some of those stories first-hand.
The museum’s annual Oral History Day is on at the Huia Hall, 1251 Huia Road, kicking off at 2pm. This year’s theme is Rails in the Ranges, presented by Stewart Harvey, author of Water from the West. Stewart will take the audience back to the days when narrow-gauge rail lines snaked through the bush, and he’ll share the story of Hector, the little locomotive that helped construct both the Upper and Lower Huia Dams.
For anyone who has walked the dam tracks, swum at Huia Beach, or simply looked out at the ranges and wondered how all that infrastructure came to be, this is the backstory. The Huia Settlers Museum has spent years gathering this knowledge from the families who lived and worked here, and Oral History Day is one of the best chances each year to hear it told properly.
Entry is $5 for adults, with under 12s free, and includes a light afternoon tea. It’s the kind of unpretentious community event that makes Huia, well, Huia. Locals, newcomers, history buffs and curious tamariki are all welcome.
Why does this matter for The West? Because the heritage of places like Huia, Cornwallis and the wider Waitākere Ranges isn’t preserved by accident. It takes volunteers, kaitiaki, storytellers and small museums who keep showing up year after year. The Huia Settlers Museum is one of those quietly essential community organisations, and events like this are how the knowledge gets passed on to the next generation.
So if you’re free on the afternoon of Sunday 20 September, take a drive out to Huia. Bring a friend, bring a koha for the door, and settle in for a proper West Auckland yarn.
Learn more about the Huia Settlers Museum at huiamuseum.org.nz or follow them on Facebook.
If you or your organisation could use support from The Trusts, find out how to apply at thetrusts.co.nz/our-funds.
