Mel Williams, Visitor Services
I love it when an artifact I find at the Whangārei Museum leads me on an adventure into the great outdoors. This week I found a wonderful picture of kids lined up around an outdoor swimming pool. The outside of the pool is concreted, giving it the appearance of an entirely man-made venue, but it is in fact part of the Otapapa Stream in Kamo.
Once referred to as “The Bend”, the swimming hole was created for use by the community in 1931. This area of the stream was altered to accommodate the needs of swimmers. Initially it was deepened and widened, and the walls were lined with Kamo bricks and then concreted. As time went by other modifications were made. The base of the pool was also lined with bricks and concrete, seating and dressing sheds were added and a dam was built at the top end.
For two decades this was a popular place for families, students and the community and was one of the three main recreational swimming pools in Whangarei at the time. The others were Mair Park Pool and Cafler Pool.
According to Kamo locals the plug was pulled in the 1950s when kids started getting sick after swimming in the pool. At that time, houses in the area were on septic tank systems and the water in the stream was being contaminated by these. A decision was made by the local District Health Board to dismantle the attraction and the trustees were instructed to destroy the dam. The dam was subsequently blown up and the stream freely flowed once again.
I was super excited to see what remains of the Kamo swimming hole so took the kids for an explore. We were not expecting to find much, after all, it’s been around 70 years since the dam was demolished, but we were pleasantly surprised by what remains. Some of the walls are still intact, as are the steps down into the water. Kamo bricks can be seen in the walls where concrete has broken away and the concreted base, although fragmented from erosion, is still visible with bricks peeking through the shimmering stream.
At some point a portion of the pool was backfilled, reducing the width of the stream, which is now alive with plants and trees, providing shade that was very appreciated on the day we were there.
It’s not so much a swimming hole now but it is still a beautiful treasure, hidden away in Kamo, perfect, according to my kids, for leaf boat racing.
