North Head Historic Reserve, Takapuna, Auckland

Walk 53, 16 Nov 2020

North Battery Tunnel

Maungauika/North Head is located in Devonport. This historic defence was placed on the northern headland of the Waitemata Harbour in 1885 to protect Auckland from a feared Russian invasion.

The explosion of Mount Tarawera in 1886 was initially thought to be the beginning of a Russian bombardment.

The underground tunnels and the oldest buildings on the summit, a cookhouse and barracks, still remain from this period.

Maungauika means “hill of Uika.” Te Uika was a cousin of an ancient explorer named Toi.

According to the Dept of Conservation, O Peretu is the ancient name for this headland.

Peretu was a Maruiwi ancestor whose people originally occupied the area. His carving is on the gateway (waharoa) of nearby Rangitoto Island. Some of Toi’s crew stayed in Tamaki and intermarried with Peretu’s people. Uika, Toi’s cousin, was one of them. Uika settled at present day North Head, known thereafter as Maunga-a-Uika or Maungauika.

Related walk: Rangitoto Island

In 1841, the land formed part of the Mahurangi Purchase, through which the Crown obtained ownership of Auckland’s North Shore.

First protected as a reserve in 1972 when it was included in the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park, the North Head Historic Reserve was managed by the Department of Conservation.

DOC no longer administers the reserve. Ownership of Maungauika/North Head Historic Reserve has transferred to Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the Tāmaki Collective) as part of Treaty Settlement negotiations.

Walk: Auckland 9

Links

Maungauika/North Head Historic Reserve

Self guided walk: North Head’s Self Guided Walk introduces you to a complex of tunnels, guns, searchlight emplacements and otherfortifications. These date from the late 1800s up to the time of the Second World War during which time North Head was a major military installation.
The numbers on the map in this brochure correspond to numbered markers on the track. Approximate walking time is one hour.

The AA: North Head Maungauika Historic Walk

Short walks in Auckland

Castor Bay / Te Rahopara o Peretu

North of Maungauika / North Head is the Castor Bay Battery and Camp / Te Rahopara o Peretu.

Tradition records that the first arrivals on what is now the North Shore were Te Tini o Maruiwi. One of the descendants of these people, Peretu, is remembered in many place names in the area including the pa, Te Rahopara o Peretu, which is located on a headland to the south of the Castor Bay Battery and Camp site.

Later, Kawerau occupied this part of Tamaki, their area of influence being subsequently modified by Ngati Whatua and Ngati Paoa. In 1841 the site was obtained by the Crown as part of the Mahurangi Purchase, which included the land between Maungauika (North Head) and Te Arai in the north.

Castor Bay Battery and Camp / Te Rahopara o Peretu

An urban legend?

Legend has it that hidden in the tunnels there remain stores of live ammunition and the first two Boeing aircraft ever built. It is the lure of those Boeings that has attracted treasure hunters and continuing tales.

Ex-commercial pilot Martin Butler has dedicated two decades of his life to trying to uncover what happened to the two Boeing aircrafts, “the holy grail of aviation.”

Martin Butler has written books about it; Tunnel Vision and Tunnel Vision Refocused.

The known underground tunnels at Maungauika stretch no more than 200 metres but there have been a number of investigations into a larger, blocked off tunnel network.

Butler said a ground radar search showed areas in the mountain that could be the home to blocked tunnels and potentially the Boeing aircraft.

There are many stories from various sources including old soldiers of a vast underground system.

Auckland Underground: Missing planes mystery in North Head bunkers

Early Explorers and Eye Witnesses

“Really, what we’re trying to do is to quantify what is or isn’t inside North Head. Given all the stories of there being deteriorating ammunition, really, we need to get to the bottom of it, once and for all.”

The Tūpuna Maunga Authority confirmed to Stuff it has received Butler’s documentation and will asses it to determine whether “anything new” has been provided.

DOC had no further comment to make.

‘Compelling’ evidence: Ex-pilot’s quest to solve tunnel mystery reaches key point

February 27, 2026 •

Arai te Uru Reserve, Omapere

Walk 42, 29th September 2020

This is a walk to the site of the former Signal Station. From that spot there’s a sweeping view of Hokianga Heads, the coast, Tasman Sea and the villages of Omapere and Opononi.

Arai Te Uru is the name of the Taniwha (mythological sea monster) which guards the harbour entrance with its sister Taniwha Niwa which stands guard on the opposite shore.

Signal Station Track: The Signal Station was in operation from 1838 – 1951 to guide ships over through the treacherous harbour entrance until being replaced by an automated lighthouse. Today all that remains is a few upright timbers and a horizontal beam.

The full name of Hokianga harbour is Hokianga-nui-o-Kupe”, meaning “the final departing place of Kupe. Kupe is a legendary figure, a Polynesian chief from Hawaiki who was involved in the discovery of New Zealand.

Each canoe and tribe had its tuahu, a sacred place marked by a stone. This huge stone is the tuahu of Kupe, erected as a memorial to him at Pakanae marae, near Opononi. It was moved here in the 1960s from the upper Hokianga Harbour.

Traditions about Kupe appear among iwi (peoples) of the following areas: Northland, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui, Whanganui-Taranaki, Rangitāne, and the South Island. Details about him differ from iwi to iwi.

Early accounts from the Ngāti Kahungunu area consistently place Kupe on board the Tākitimu canoe or name as his companions people who are strongly associated with the Tākitimu. The few references to Kupe in South Island sources indicate that the traditions are substantially the same as those of Ngāti Kahungunu, with whom Ngāi Tahu, the main tribe of the South Island, had strong genealogical and trading links.

The local iwi is Te Roroa, a sub tribe of Ngati Whatua. They occupy the region between the Kaipara and Hokianga.

Walk: Northland 23

Links:

Hokianga Heads area

Notes:

The Burial cave near the pilot station: On the southside of Hokianga Heads there was a cave in a perpendicular cliff, which was the burial place of the people of Hokianga from time immemorial. Ramaroa was the name of the cave. To reach the cave men were let down over the cliff with a rope. When that part of the country was purchased by John Martin as a pilot station in March, 1832, the people removed the bones to another place, and it became common (noa) or free from tapu. Source: https://kaihuvalleyhistory.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/1-from-the-sea-we-came.pdf

Whiria Pa, Episode 20, Musket Wars #3

Ngapuhi trace their lineage back to Rahiri, who was born at Whiria Pa.
“Hong Hika tried to conquer Whiria in 1813, without success. Join me in a drone over Whiria where ancient earthworks are still clearly visible.”

It’s not far from Pakanae marae where the stone tuahu (memorial) to Kupe is.

There were two explorers named Kupe. The original discoverer of New Zealand named Kupe flourished some ten generations before Toi: THE ACCOUNT OF KUPE AND TAINUI. Source: The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 28 1919 > Volume 28, No. 110 > The account of Kupe and Tainui, by George Graham, p 111-116

There were people here before the arrival of Kupe.

The article from the Journal of the Polynesian Society states that Kupe and his people discovered people at various places, according to elder Tati Wharekawa; “These people were the Mamoe, the Turehu, the Tahurangi, the Poke-pokewai, the Patupaiarehe, the Turepe and the Hamoamoa. They lived on the fronds and berries of the trees, and the roots of the earth. They were expert in preparing such foods, and in snaring and spearing the birds in forest and fish in stream.”

Monica Matamua of the Ngati Hotu tribe confirms this. She said that everywhere Kupe went, he found the land already occupied by people, some were fair skinned tribes. Here’s a close up of the Kupe memorial stone, and Monica Matamau’s account.

Rangitoto Island

Walk 8: Rangitoto Island, 17 November 2018

Click here for the video

Rangitoto Island, a major Auckland landmark is said to have formed over 600 years ago from a volcanic eruption. It’s a popular destination for a day trip as it’s a short ferry ride across the harbour.

A great view of Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf can be had from Rangitoto’s summit. Although there’s no natural water source on the island there’s abundant bush and birdlife.

View from Rangitoto Island looking toward Motutapu Island

I was amazed at how the trees have colonised the volcanic scoria.

Although at first reluctant to buy an island that was ‘all rock’, in 1854 the Crown bought Rangitoto from its Māori owners for £15. In 1890 the island became a public domain and a popular destination for picnickers and boat day trippers.

Baches were built in the 1920’s and 30’s. Most were taken down as the place is a reserve but some have been left. I’m glad these baches were left as they add a bit of character to the island. Leaving a plaque in memorial of a bach is not the same.

The Collins bach is still in use.

Walk: Auckland 55

History

Māori know the island as ‘Nga Rangi-i-totongia a Tamatekapua’ which translates to ‘the day the blood of Tama-te-kapua was shed’. Tama-te-kapua was the chief of the Arawa canoe which arrived around 1350. He fought a major battle with the iwi (tribe) from the Tainui canoe at Islington Bay on Rangitoto which was allegedly caused over adultery, and the fight that followed left Tama-te-kapua’s face bloodied and bruised.

Source: DOC, History of Rangitoto Island

The account of adultery agrees with what is written in the Journal of the Polynesian Society: TAINUI VOYAGES FROM HAWAIKI TO RAROTONGA.

“From Hawaiki they came with “Te Arawa” canoe; Ngatoro-i-rangi was the “Tainui” navigator. When they arrived at Rarotonga the people of that place were urged to come along also, that is to say, the people called Te Aitanga-o-Whakaahu, younger brother of Puanga; but those people said “No”—they would not agree to leave their ancestral home and come hither—so they were left behind; also Rakataura of the “Tainui” crew, because of his thievish habits. Riu-ki-uta was now the navigator, because Tama-te-kapua had taken away on his canoe the “Tainui’s” navigator Nga-toro-i-rangi, also that man’s wife Kea-taketake.”

——-

The date of 1350 for the arrival of the canoe seems wrong. How can Rangitoto be formed 600 years ago if Tainui and Arawa anchored there and had a fight? The answer is that Rangitoto Island was already formed and inhabited before the arrival of the immigrants from Tainui and Arawa. The inhabitant’s footprints are preserved in the ash of adjacent Motutapu Island. Was the 600 year date given for the formation of Rangitoto Island made to fit the arrival of the Tainui and Arawa canoes?

See my page on The First People.

The Ngai Tai ki Tamaki tribe have clarified the matter. Rangitoto erupted more than once. The footprints preserved in the ash of adjacent Motutapu Island are likely to be from the Maruiwi people.

The Maruiwi

The explorer Toi was there long before the arrival of the Tainui canoe, and when Toi Te Huatahi arrived in Tāmaki he found it to be extensively settled already by the Maruiwi peoples as firstly evident by the many occupation fires visible from his arrival. Hence, Toi called this land Hawaiiki tahutahu, ‘Hawaiiki of Many Fires’.

Peretu

When you get off the ferry you will walk under this gateway.

Peretū was a key Maruiwi ancestor.

“Peretū (pere, dart; tū, pierced) was so named for his father died of a wound in battle caused by a hand-thrown dart, a weapon that was commonly used by these ancient peoples. The headland where Peretū resided is named Ō-Peretū (Fort Takapuna). Peretū had other Pā across Tāmaki, one such in the North being Te Raho-Para-a-Peretū at present day Castor Bay, North Shore, and another in the south known as Te Pounui a Peretū (Ponui Island).

At that time Peretū utilised Rangitoto for the purpose of a “Rāhui-Kākā” (Parrot Preserve), a bird then very abundant on that island. The many Kākā would thrive on the plentiful bush foods of Rangitoto for the island was covered in a forest of Rātā and Pohutukawa trees. For this reason the slopes of Rangitoto are known as “Ngā Huruhuru a Peretū” (The hairs of Peretū) in ancient times and today. Note that this period precedes the second eruption of Rangitoto.

Some of Toi’s crew stayed and intermarried with Peretū’s people. Uika, Toi’s cousin, was one who stayed in Tāmaki and intermarried. Uika settled at present day North Head, known thereafter as Maunga-a-Uika or Maungauika.

Also in these ancient times was the name Ngā Pona Toru a Peretū (The three knuckles of Peretū) which refers to the three summits of Rangitoto. Peretū had three fingers on each hand; this was not a deformity, but a sign of his descent from a godly ancestor.“

Source: Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Tipua, Tūrehu and Patupaiarehe

Castor Bay / Te Rahopara o Peretu

Heritage New Zealand: Tradition records that the first arrivals on what is now the North Shore were Te Tini o Maruiwi. One of the descendants of these people, Peretu, is remembered in many place names in the area including the pa, Te Rahopara o Peretu, which is located on a headland to the south of the Castor Bay Battery and Camp site.

Castor Bay Battery and Camp / Te Rahopara o Peretu

Links

Rangitoto Island

Auckland: The people of the ocean