Battle in the Dunes WORDS WHARE AKUHATA /// PHOTOGRAPHY ANDY TAYLOR The drive along the Matatā Straits between Whakatāne and Te Puke is about as Kiwi as it gets. Pōhutukawa and toi toi-clad sandstone cliffs on one side, rolling dunes and the big blue ocean on the other. On a good day it’s a postcard of peace and solitude. What many motorists travelling the straights don’t know is that those dunes were the scene of one of the most brutal conflicts to take place in the Bay of Plenty. This was the 1864 Battle of Kaokaoroa; it was fought between iwi supporting or opposing the British and, because it occurred just a day before the fateful battle at Gate Pā (Pukehinahina), it remains largely forgotten. Whare Akuhata, whose ancestors fought in the battle – and whose tūpuna Henare Taratoa played a key role at Gate Pā – looks back on the bloody battle of the dunes.
Maketū, as seen from the site of the redoubt besieged in 1864.
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P L E N T Y . C O . N Z // P O U T Ū - T E - R A N G I 2 0 2 0
