- IJ
Sidestep: Pukepohatu
About 17km north of Wellsford is a town called Kaiwaka. Just 5km north of there is a hill called Bald Rock. Obviously the dome is just rock, hence it's name. No surprise there. It's official name is Pukpohatu which simply means rocky hill. This hill is supposed to be restricted access but in fact that is not the case. There are tracks leading to it's summit and rock climbers use it regularly. The upper rock has many modern carvings in it, predominately names and initials.
But this hill has a history.
In 1825 a battle between Maori tribes occurred. Once the musket arrived, many tribes committed utu on those less armed. It is the boast of some tribes that injuries (as we should call them) inflicted by their ancestors have never been wiped out, and consequently the tribal utu account left them in credit, as against their enemies. This was the location of the battle called Te Ika-A-Ranga-nui. As many as 1000 of his ancestors fell before musket-wielding NgaPuhi invaders, led by Hongi Heke. There followed a cannibal feast as usual with NgaPuhi on other Maori when defeated, and the remains were seen by many European in the years afterward because bones and skulls littered the place. A church was built over the slaughter site many years afterward.
But there is another little known history.
Once gain it involves the rocks. It was a single petroglyph that had been there for millennia (note that it had not been carved by the hiding tribes). It was last seen in 1943.
Some say Maori's carved it but Maori didn't carve stone. Some say Kauri fellers did it. Ask yourself why? Some say (this is beginning to sound like Top Gear...) it was carved by a white skinned race who lived in Northland before Maori arrived. That's more likely. Locals say it was covered up in a landslide about 1944. Sorry...when? Missing one year after it was found. Just coincidence or deliberately done by blasting or hacking if off?
So where is it and why was it removed, destroyed or hidden?
