Opononi - Hokianga Information Centre

Hokianga Visitor Centre is near the Opononi Hotel.

The Hokianga has a long Maori history and evidence of its early occupation can be found everywhere. Also scattered along the harbour’s extensive shores are small towns which bear witness to the European boom times of kauri felling and gum digging. Hokianga is named for the place from which Kupe, reputedly the country’s original discoverer, in about 1000 AD, returned to his home in Hawaiiki. “Hokianga-nui-aKupe” means “the place of Kupe’s great return.”

At the Pakanae marae, two kilometres east of Opononi, is a sacred rock reputed to have been his anchor stone. Captain Cook sailed past the Hokianga Heads in 1770 but did not investigate the large harbour inside. It was not until some thirty years later that ships are believed to have first entered the harbour, although the extremely dangerous bar discouraged many from doing so. Its dangers were well-known – the Maori name for the Bay of Islands was Te Tai Hoenga Tamahine (ie, the girl’s paddling sea - where a girl could bring a canoe in), whereas the Hokianga was Te Tai Hoenga Tangata (requiring a man’s strength to bring in a canoe).

Large quantities of kauri logs were to become a prime export from the harbour, although many ships were wrecked on the bar while entering or leaving. New Zealand’s second Wesleyan mission station was established at Mangungu in 1828 by John Hobbs. The first, at Whangaroa, had been destroyed by the Maoris the previous year.

Opononi famous the world over in the mid-1950s for its resident dolphin, Opo. Her career was at its peak in January and February, 1956. Each evening she would disappear up the harbour to an isolated bay, returning in the morning to her growing audience. Sometimes she would bring a beer bottle from the sea bottom and toss it about before diving for another. The shoreline would be filled with swimmers and bathers who all romped happily with the dolphin.

The New Zealand pioneer film-maker, Rudall Hayward, sent film and radio accounts of Opo’s antics overseas and Opo was soon known worldwide. In March 1956 she disappeared and was later found dead, wedged in rocks near where she lived. There were many theories why Opo died but, whatever the cause, all of the Hokianga mourned her death.

Today on the Opononi foreshore a concrete statue by Christchurch sculptor Russell Clark is a permanent reminder of the creature so well-loved that she was made the subject of a contemporary popular song - “Opo the friendly dolphin.” Rare film footage of Opo playing with children in the harbour is on Pictorial Parade #47 and a documentary 'Heartland Hokianga' gives an idea of the culture of the area.

There are several other thriving heritage towns on the Hokianga, Omapere, Rawene, and Kohukohu. Horeke is tiny but has a gorgeous pub.

AUCKLAND TO BAY OF ISLANDS AND HOKIANGA THREE DAY PRIVATE TOUR

Image Credits; Derek Smith and Maclean Barker Photography and David Baldock Photographer and Koenraad Kuiper