Kamo is a suburb in Northern Whangārei. approximately five minutes drive from the

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and ...

CBD. The name comes from a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

word meaning "eyelash", but has also been said to mean "to bubble up", referring to hot springs in the area. Mount Parakiore is a volcanic dome rising 391 m to the northwest of the town. It is about one million years old, and part of the Harbour Fault which also includes Mount Hikurangi near

Hikurangi Hikurangi is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand. The city of Whangārei is 17 km (11 miles) to the south, and Kawakawa is 39 km (24 miles) northwest. The Glenbervie Forest is southeast of the settlement. State Highway ...

, and Parihaka in Whangārei.

History

Coal mining was an early industry in the area. Tunnelling first started in 1875, but it was not practical to carry the coal over the

unmetalled A road surface (British English), or pavement (American English), is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, hoggin, cobble ...

roads to Whangārei wharf. In 1882 a short railway line was completed between Kamo and Whangārei to carry the coal. This was one of Northland's first

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s. The railway still exists as part of the

North Auckland Line The North Auckland Line (designation NAL) is a major section of New Zealand's national rail network, and is made up of the following parts: the portion of track that runs northward from Westfield Junction to Newmarket Station; from there, wes ...

. The mine closed in 1955, with the seams worked out.

Limonite Limonite () is an iron ore consisting of a mixture of hydrated iron(III) oxide-hydroxides in varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO(OH)·H2O, although this is not entirely accurate as the ratio of oxide to hydroxid ...

was also quarried at Kamo. A

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

church was built in 1881, the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

All Saints Church in 1886, and a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church in 1911. The first

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in the Whangārei area opened in Kamo about 1881. Kamo became a Town District in 1884, at which point it had a population of 410, slightly smaller than Whangārei. The town was known for its hot springs in the early 20th century, although several people died of suffocation in covered baths between 1901 and 1920. The iron-rich water was promoted as a health tonic. In the early 1960s the boundaries of Whangārei city expanded to include Kamo.

Demographics

Kamo covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Kamo had a population of 9,855 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 1,254 people (14.6%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 2,379 people (31.8%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 3,402 households, comprising 4,695 males and 5,166 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.91 males per female, with 2,187 people (22.2%) aged under 15 years, 1,713 (17.4%) aged 15 to 29, 3,864 (39.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,097 (21.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 76.7% European/Pākehā, 30.7% Māori, 4.1% Pacific peoples, 6.5% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 16.6, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 49.1% had no religion, 38.1% were Christian, 2.3% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.9% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.8% were Buddhist and 1.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,116 (14.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,683 (21.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 972 people (12.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,378 (44.1%) people were employed full-time, 930 (12.1%) were part-time, and 345 (4.5%) were unemployed.

Education

Kamo High School is a secondary (years 9-13) school with a roll of . The school was established in 1960. Kamo Intermediate is an intermediate (years 7-8) school with a roll of . This school has a friendly rivalry with its two neighbouring schools, Whangarei Boys' High School and Whangarei Girls' High School. Kamo Primary School, Totara Grove School and Hurupaki School are contributing primary (years 1-6) schools with rolls of , and respectively. All these schools are

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

. Rolls are as of Totara Grove has a decile rating of 2. Hurupaki School has a decile of 8. The others all have a decile rating of 5. Kamo Primary School opened in July 1873 in a private house. It had grown to 64 students by the time it moved into Kamo Public Hall in 1877.Menefy, pp 95-106 and it moved to its own building in 1881. In 1946, it moved to its present site. The older students were split to Kamo Intermediate in 1964. Kamo East School opened in 1966, and was later renamed to Totara Grove School.

Notable people

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

Bunny Finlayson, Bevan Holmes and Ian Jones played for Kamo Rugby Club as did

Auckland Blues The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...

player

Justin Collins Steve Collins (born 9 April 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played at club level for Canberra Raiders, Parramatta Eels, Featherstone Rovers ( Heritage No. 766), Gateshead ...

and Auckland Blues coach

Peter Sloane Peter Henry Sloane (born 10 September 1948) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. A hooker, Sloane represented North Auckland from 1972 to 1983, and made 15 appearances for the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, includin ...

. Michael Hill (Jeweller and Entrepreneur) attended Kamo High School.

Stacey Michelsen Stacey Michelsen (born 18 February 1991) is a New Zealand field hockey player. She has competed for the New Zealand women's national field hockey team (the ''Black Sticks Women''), including for the team at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth G ...

(Black Stick) attended Kamo Intermediate School

Ross Ihaka George Ross Ihaka (born 1954) is a New Zealand statistician who was an Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of Auckland until his retirement in 2017. Alongside Robert Gentleman, he is one of the creators of the R programming lang ...

, Pickering Award recipient and co-originator of the

R programming language R is a programming language for statistical computing and graphics supported by the R Core Team and the R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Created by statisticians Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman, R is used among data miners, bioinform ...

, attended Kamo High School. Park Kyung, a rapper and composer from South Korean boy group

Block B Block B ( ko, 블락비) is a South Korean boy band managed by KQ Entertainment, and consists of seven members: Taeil, B-Bomb, Jaehyo, U-Kwon, Park Kyung, Zico, and P.O. Block B has received several accolades, including nominations for seven ...

, attended Kamo High School.

References

External links