THE HOKIANGA  

Is a region surrounding the Hokianga Harbour in the Far North of New Zealand. It is sparsely populated and has many little clusters of houses in a rural setting. Its full Māori placename is Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe - the returning-place of Kupe, the legendary polynesian discoverer of Aotearoa. Maori Legend has it that "Wairere was one of the eleven taniwha sons of Araiteuru (Āraiteuru) of Hokianga Harbour.  His brothers, sent by their mother, all took it upon themselves to see who could burrow the furthest to see the country in which they lived. 

Wairere followed the path cut by his brother Waihou and changed direction before he reached Horeke. He encountered a rough patch of land filled with boulders. Wairere found that the boulders were interesting shapes, and he wanted to bring one back to prove his story.

Unfortunately, the boulder proved exceptionally heavy, and he made it back to Waihou's path. There, exhaustion overtook him, so he fell asleep with the boulder still atop his head. He has not yet shaken the load from his shoulders, so he remains there, sleeping most of the time from the weight over his head. Even to this day, waka (ships, canoes) may be upset by this stone if Wairere stirs in his sleep, or, worse yet, if he half-awake attempts to take revenge for his plight. 

The icon for the Hokianga is the Kauri tree. 75 % of all Kauri are in the Hokianga, which has four protected Kauri forests (Waipoua in the South-West, Omahuta to the North-East, Warawara in the North-West and Puketi in the East."

https://www.blackdrago.com/fame/wairere.htm

 

WAIRERE

The Wairere Boulders property itself shares in the early history of the region. At the tip of the campground (on the estuary) is the site of NZ's first water powered sawmill, which was built by William Webster circa 1840, Water was diverted from near the current swimming hole several hundred metres upstream via an open wooden sluice to a height of 25 feet (~8 metres) above the sawmill's waterwheel.

William Webster came to own the Wairere property through marriage to Annabella (or 'Hana'), whose mother was a close relative of the great Chief Tamati Waka Nene. Annabella's father was Colin Gillies, a Scotsman who arrived in 1825. The marriage of the Gillies is the first known legal marriage between Maori and Pakeha in NZ. 

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HOREKE  

The closest town to Wairere is the oldest Hokianga town and second oldest European settlement in New Zealand. Horeke has a rich Maori and European history, with evidence of Maori occupation dating back hundreds of years. Originally named Detford after a shipping yard in England, three ships of more than 100 tons were built before 1830, making Detford (NZ) the leading ship building centre in NZ. The name soon reverted to Horeke, 'the throwing of the spear'.

The original Horeke Tavern was built in 1826 and this original hotel construction still forms part of the hotel today, making this the oldest hotel in NZ. Given its prominence, the hotel was the site of the first government organised hui. Governor Hobson trudged for six days to reach Horeke with the freshly inked Treaty of Waitangi. The balance of the Northland chiefs signed at the nearby Mangungu Mission station and then it was celebration time in the pub grounds on the waters edge.

The Postal Service also has its origins here, with a horseback service between the Hokianga and the Bay of Islands starting three months after the Treaty signing.  

European settlement at Horeke began in the early 19th century and the town grew as a centre for shipbuilding and timber milling. In the mid-19th century, Horeke was a bustling port town, with ships carrying kauri timber and other goods to and from Auckland. Today, many of the town's historic buildings and landmarks are preserved, including the Horeke Tavern.