SEEKING MITIMITI
Leaving the Waipoua Forest, heading north, you drop down to typical Far North farmland, through the village of Waimamaku, then climb again before the splendour of the Hokianga Harbour spreads before you – it is breathtaking. Pause at the top above Ōmāpere, and drink in the magnificent sight of one of Aotearoa’s most historic regions. And it’s fair to use ‘Aotearoa’ here because the history of this place far eclipses the arrival of Europeans and the New Zealandisation that followed.
You can’t miss the fact that the northern shore of the harbour entrance is not your typical headland; it is a giant, golden sandhill, and you might wonder what lies beyond this sandhill, which is so special to the local tangata whenua. You should be curious because the ferry from Rawene to Kohukohu actually takes you well away from the coast, and signposts on the northern side of the harbour, pointing west, show distant places that you probably have never heard of.
The first time I wondered what lay north of the golden sandhill I opened my old-fashioned map book and saw a maze of roads basically going nowhere, but on the coast was a dot labelled Mitimiti.
What was Mitimiti? A town? A locality? A beach? Was there a shop, post office or a pub? I decided one day I would find out – that was almost 20 years ago.
My curiosity was further piqued a short time later when I was doing a Saturday morning show for Radio Pacific, , and mentioned I would one day go to Mitimiti. That sparked a fascinating call from a man who told of going to stay with an aunt during school holidays in either the late thirties or forties. At the time he was
