DARKEST WAIMANA

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 53, 19 March 1946, Page 6

DARKEST WAIMANA

AN ADVENTUROUS RIDE FIFTY-ONE YEARS AGO Coincident with the recently celebrated fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the Opouriao, we have been handed by the rarest good fortune a copy of the ‘Opotiki Herald’ dated March 31, 1891. From its crowded columns we have selected an article headed as above ‘ln Darkest Waimana or A Trip to Ruatoki.’ This interesting description was written by Mr John Armstrong one of the best known and widely respected settlers of Opotiki who is still hale and hearty, and gives an insight to the life and habits of Maori and Pakelia in those faroff days of pioneering. We have the greatest pleasure in reproducing it.

Leaving Opotiki

Our party consisted of seven well mounted horsemen. We had arranged the night before to leave Opotiki at half past eight, but owing to some of the party having to get horses shod, say goodbyes, and one thing and another, we did not get away until about ten o’clock. However, once under way, we did not lose much time.

After a very enjoyable ride, we reached Ohiwa a little after 11, where considerable delay was caused by a number of Maoris crossing at the ferry. There was nothing for it but to wait patiently, which was rather rough on us, as the tide was running in at a fast rate. Our wor-\ thy friend, the ferry man managed to get all the natives crossed in about half an hour and after murdering the Queen’s English a good deal, he turned his attention to us, and remarked with a few strong adjectives that ‘it was a nice thing to come down at high tide to be ferried across’; but his bark was worse than his bite, and after two trips of the boat, we were all landed safely on the other side, where, after paying the various “bobs” we made a start once more, reaching quiet little Whakatane at about 1.30 p.m. There we astonished the Whakatane people, who sat at McAlister’s table with us by our hearty appetites. The Opouriao Station

After we had paid a visit to the flax mill (which is a great boon to Whakatane) and had given our horses a few hours spell in some splendid grass aongside the hotel, we made a start for Opouriao, and after a 12-mile ride along a good metal road running through some veryfertile country, where maize was abundant (although I think more backward than the majority of the Opotiki maize), reached the station house at sundown, where the manager’s (Mr Grant) hospitality was vefy acceptable. We stayed at the station that night, where our horses were in clover—or rather cocksfoot. I must here remark that feed on the Opouriao station is very abundant; also mosquitoes, judging by the swollen faces of some of the Opotiki boys next morning. , It, to my mind, is a great pity to see so much good land,

as is in the Opouriao station, tied up as it were; the land is equally as good, on the average, as the Opotiki flat, and if it were cut up into say from 150 to 200 acre farms, it would command

ready sale, and also be the making of Whakatane. However, I must “stash” this strain, or the owners of the station will be giving Mr Grant the sack, and be taking me on as manager. The Governor (Lord Onslow) Stop* ped at Poroporo the same night as we stayed at the station, so we were a few hours ahead of him, and could afford to have a look round the place. We went to the river for a swim, which, made new men of us, and our next move was to the sheep yards and wool shed, which are very substantial ones, and are a credit to the builders—Messrs. Brown and Moody I believe. After “mooching” about for an hour or so, we received word the Governor was coming, so we mounted an started for Ruatoki, to be there in time to witness the Governor’s arrival. The Governor’s Reception

There were seven of us, and thinking to do the tourist in real style, we formed into twos, with one giddy yong spark riding on in front. When about half a mile from the pa, the Maoris, who were on the lookout for the Governor, noticed us coming enveloped in a cloud of dust, and

must have mistaken us for the Governor and party, for they set up a tremendous haka in our honour, and of course we had to take off our hats and thank them for the kind reception etc. etc. However, they soon got over their disappointment, for the real gentleman arrived in about three-quarters of an hours time, and then the fun started.

There was a great number of Maoris there (from 1,000 to 2,000 is the general opinion, but I shan’t venture to say) and the hakas were very good, and seemed to greatly amuse the Vice-Regal party. After the Maoris had more or less tired themselves out with yelling and haka-ing, some of the tatooed autocrats gave speeches in which the

“Haeremai ! Haeremai ! Haeremai!” seemed to take a very prominent part, welcoming the Governor to their part of the world.

The Governor rose from under the awning where he had been “taking things easy”, and in a few well chosen remarks, thanked 'the Maoris for the kind manner in which they had received him. He said that he had visited most of the tribes in New Zealand, and they had all welcomed him warmly, but none more so than this tribe—the Urewera. At the conclusion of His Excellency’s speech a few of the big chiefs asked the interpreter (R. S. Bush Esq. R.M.) if the Governor had any objection to shaking hands with them, and one old coloured gentleman went so far as to rub noses, an art which Lord Onslow didn’t seem very well up in. After more palavering, the Governor asked them to escort him a little further up the river the next day, to which the natives consented with great glee. Native Hospitality

Kai kai was now the order of the day, and I must say, ,as for eatables and drinkables there were plenty of potatoes, roast pigeon, pioki, puha, etc. unlimited. (Also plenty of rum). A large ring was formed, just as if it were a picnic, and the Opotiki party had the honour of eating potatoes with the Governor, indeed I believe one or two ate out of the same flax kit.

After we had done full justice, we had a look around the pah, which is situated on a piece of rising ground on the banks of the river, and overlooking a large flat of about ten thousand acres of rich land in its rough state, owned by the Urewera.

The sun was now getting low, and so we had to decide whether we would stop at Ruatoki that night or go back to the station. We- had a yarn with an old chief who had had a few long beers at our expense in Whakatane, and he very kindly offered us the use of his vvhare for the night. We went and looked at it. It looked grand from the outside, but after we had seen the inside, we declined with thanks.

In the meantime, the Governor had been preparing to go back to the station house, and was on the point of making a start. We, remembering an old saying as to being “as well out of the world as out of the fashion” said goodbye to our dusky friends and “skedaddled.” The Return Trip

We stayed at Mr Grant’s that night and next morning at 6 o’clock said goodbye to Opouriao and reached Whakatane in time for breakfast. After we had performed this pleasant task and squared accounts with our host we started for “home sweet home.” Once across the Ohope hills, we had a good beach before us, until we reached Ohiwa once more, whei'e we had to exercise our lungs to call Mr Simson’s attention to the fact that we wanted to get across.

I should like here to draw attention to the inconvenience of making the ferryman know when he is wanted from the Whakatane side of the river, more especially at night time, as it is a good distance across the harbour, and one has to bellow strongly before one can make oneself heard. I would suggest that a wire should be made fast to a bell in the ferryman’s house, and stretched across the river to the other side, where it could be made fast to a post on the beach. The ferryman arived at length, however, and we were once more ferried across and landed safely on the Opotiki beach, where, after saddling up, we started at a good pace for Opotiki, at which place we arrived at about two o’clock p.m. with a rather vacant feeling in the’ internal region. Thus ended a trip to one of the wildest parts of New Zealand.