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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 6 (October 1, 1928)

Lake Country

Lake Country.

Leaving Rotorua about 9 a.m. the traveller skirts the shore of Lake Rotorua for some distance, and then, at the village of Te Ngae turns off to the right along the Whakatane road. Occasional steam clouds in nearby paddocks give evidence of thermal activity. Presently Lake Rotoiti appears, and one of the pleasantest stretches of the journey lies between this lake and two others, Lake Rotoehu and Lake Rotoma. For miles the narrow road winds through magnificent bush. (The authorities concerned deserve the greatest thanks for the preservation of this beautiful piece of bush.) In Maori history it is known as Hongi's Track. In the not very dim past Hongi Hika, the Ngapuhi warrior, and his war party, hauled their canoes from Maketu (on the shores of the Bay of Plenty) through this bush, and on to Lake Rotorua, where the natives of the district were severely chastised for their temerity in deriding Hongi on a former visit. A short stay at Rotoma for morning tea and then off over hill and down dale to the Rangitaiki Plains and Te Teko. Te Teko was a military post during the wars of 1865. (In fact all this district and away to Opotiki saw stirring episodes during those troublous years.) The road, quite level, turns away to the left and soon the tall chimney of the Whakatane Freezing Works comes into view, after which the traveller finds himself passing through the residential portion of Whakatane.