The Titoki Tree

We are very proud of our titoki tree which we maintain was there in 1843. People have scoffed and asked 'How do you know it was there in 1843?' The answer is simple. After the south-east storm had died down Michael Aldridge the whaler brought Mr Ironside across the Bay and up the river to bury the dead. Michael was a young man of 23 years at that time and he came to know the place intimately. Tua Marina and Pukaka swamp swarmed with wild pigs and he used to have pig hunting expeditions to fill the pork barrels of the whaling ships when they were about to return to Europe. On one of these expeditions in December 1846 he found the body of Thomas Maling, the chief constable, under a cabbage tree at the junction of Blind and Schooner Creeks. Forty-six years later when Michael was getting old and Tua Marina was settled his son kept the hotel (situated where the house stands this side of the Hall). He used to come up from Ocean Bay and stay with his son and he told the local people that the two titoki trees were there in 1843 and he also pointed out where he found Maling's body.