Otamatea Marae

 One advantage of being back in the Kaipara region last year was that I got to go on road trips so I could take photos of places I hadn't seen in the 8 years I lived here.  Otamatea Marae is in the small country town of Maungaturoto and was established around 1946 as the ancestral marae for the Ngati Whatua people.

The wharanui (meeting house) was originally the whare runanga (assembly house) at Shelly Beach which opened in 1887. It was relocated to Tanoa to sit next to the Kakaraea Church in remembrance of the 1825 battle of Te Ika a Ranganui (the Musket Wars).

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.