Hongi's Track

My bags are packed and its time to say goodbye to my home town of Whakatane - today Mum and I fly out of Rotorua back to the South Island, but there has to be just one last story to be told.

Hongi's track goes through the bush between lakes Rotoiti and Rotoehu, not far from Rotorua. It was originally know as Te Ara-o-Hinehopu (the pathway of Hinehopu). A famous ancestress, Hinehopu, used it to travel between her two homes. Midway along the track she met her future husband, Pikiao III. The spot is now marked by a tree known as the Wishing Tree.

The name 'Hongi's track' recalls the time when Hongi Hika and his army of warriors hauled their waka's (canoes) over the track, on the way to attacking the Te Arawa people on Mokoia Island in Lake Rotorua in 1823.

The track runs through a forest of native rimu, tawa, pukatea and rewarewa trees with birdsong from our native birds.

A collage of the Wishing Tree, Hongi's Track, and the beautiful canopy of the forest.

So here ends my journey back to my home town, full of history and many memories captured, a truely special and emotional time for me - I will return.
It was not possible to portray this beautiful part of New Zealand in all its glory in one photo a day but I have done my best :)

Backblips start
here.

And now its time to catch up with your journals and backblip the last few days - I'm nearly up to date :))