| SITES TO VISIT |
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| A number of fascinating sites provide a better understanding of the region’s history... |
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| MAORI SETTLEMENT |
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| Three waka landed in the Bay of Plenty: Te Arawa, Takitimu and Mataatua... |
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The region has some of the most historically significant areas of all of New Zealand. Three of the seven waka (canoe) that formed the original migration of Maori to Aotoaroa (New Zealand) made their first landing in the Bay of Plenty.
Maketu was the landing place of the Te Arawa canoe following the migration of early Maori from Hawaiki. Polynesians settled in the Bay of Plenty about 1,000 years ago.
More than 400 years went by before the Bay of Plenty was given its name when Captain James Cook circumnavigated New Zealand in 1769. Cook was alluding to the region’s welcoming people and abundant resources.
The Battle of Gate Pa was one of the most notable battles during the land wars of the 1860s and is well documented at the Elms Mission House in Tauranga.