This book reveals the history of Waimauku, a small country village in Auckland's north-west, created on the back of ancient kauri forests and sustained, at first, by the miracle of the railway and then the produce of the land. It tells how the village began, the first immigrant families, the gum diggers then the first farmers. They all survived without roads, power or communications. While fighting for a share of scarce funds from a struggling government they took matters into their own hands just to get the roads, bridges, schools and facilities they needed. There were family tragedies and changing fortunes as the outside world brought windfalls and setbacks for many.The book looks at these characters who, through sheer determination, moulded the village into a thriving community, and the many events that turned the village into what it is today.

Muriwai Beach was only 10 km (six miles) away and the stories here change to wild surf, black sand, shipwrecks, the country's first motor races, land owners, primitive roads, the first tourists and an ancient pa. Its story is also told here.