Hongi’s track

Hongi’s track

This track goes through the bush between lakes Rotoiti and Rotoehu, in the Rotorua district. It was originally known 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 Ngāpuhi warriors hauled their canoes over the track, on the way to attacking the Te Arawa people on Mokoia Island in Lake Rotorua in 1823.

The photograph by Thomas Pringle shows the track in 1908. It has since become the route of State Highway 30.