August 31, 2020
Road to Ruapekapeka a lesson in history
The site of the last battle of the Northern War and a world-beating example of Māori engineering will be made more accessible with a $8 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund.
Much of the money will go into upgrading the roads south of the Bay of Islands which lead to Ruapekapeka or the Bat’s Nest.
There will also be landscaping and better signage explaining the hilltop fort built by Te Ruki Kawiti and Hone Heke and about 400 followers to draw in and repel a force of 1500 British troops and Ngāpuhi allies.
Te Taitokerau MP Kelvin Davis, who has tūpuna who fought at Ruapekapeka, says it has great significance in the north as the place their battles with the redcoats ended.
"When I was a kid it was just overgrown with bracken. It has since been maintained and looked after There is more information about it, but what we want is for our young people and especially our young people to know more about it and we are just trying to make it more accessible with more information. I would encourage all New Zealanders, just once in their lives, to visit these battle sites. There’s amazing history there," he says.
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