He is 10096 convinced thatthe Portuguese and the Spanish visited New Zealand on a number of ‘occasions. And that’ an argument that isbeing more widely accepted with cach new discovery of some artefict or other “The Portuguese and the Spaniards were sailing around th before Tasman came here of course they visited New Zealand, He believes that a Spanish ship exploded in the northern reaches of the Wairoa Riv know precisely where the remains ofthis ship are. I's an area known as e world well angie by the local Maori and that translates roughly as“sky of fire? think that the ship was either up on the hard, or was moored having work done and somehow the ships magazine exploded kiling all the crew and probably some Maori who would have bbeen working on the ship at the time ‘Abel Tasman didn't jst stumble across New Zealand. He knew where he ‘was sailing to and what he was looking for So far, s0 good, but here the controversy deepens “If not just the Portuguese and the before Tasman and Cook. New Zealand was visited by hips from China, southern India, Malaysia and what are now Indonesia and the Philippines: ‘We've always had a European view of history and its arrogant to think that there weren't capable sailors, in capable ships from lands closer to here that would have found” New Zealand Jong before the Europeans” ‘recently published book, "1421" by Gavin Menaies supports Hilliam’s belies. Menzies says in 1421 the Chinese Emperor ordeted to sea a huge Aeet of ships with orders to discover the world. They mapped pretty much very significant land mass on the face ofthe earth including New Zealand, “Many ships wer lost including some wrecked on the west coast of New Zealand at Ruapuike, South of Raglan, Survivors who made itto shore are thought to have established a village and eventually interbed with local Maori ‘And there isthe “Tamil Bell” bronze bell of southern Indian origin that was found being used asa cooking pot in a Maori village in the Waikato This is now at Te Papa in Wellington, Tat’ bel definitly came froma Tamil ship that was wrecked in New Zealand waters says Hiliam. Butt was herein the North, not down on the Raglan coast. Noel Hillam is internationally acknowledged as an expert diver and locator of shipwrecks and conservator “Much of his work has been on wrecks documented since the accepted European “discovery” of New Zealand, Such a wreck is the French ship Vlemene that he found a Baylys Beach, he LAlemene came ashore in a wild storm in 1851 on her way from Tasmania to Whangaroa Harbour for some work. There was loss of lf but ‘most ofthe crew survived and were walking south inthe general direction of Auckland when they were taken in by local Maori and then helped on thei way” The ship broke up and was scattered all along the coast but I knew that the ‘main section was near Baylys Beach. Julie and the kids were atthe Beach fone summer having pieni and lew in and was just talking off again when | looked down and saw the wreck." So diggers were called in and the remains of the French warship were uncovered She was a very advanced ship strong and with some comforts. found that it had flushing toilets The remains have been covered again but the find was so important to the French that they have erected a ‘monument at Baylys Beach This coast from the Kaipara Harbour ‘orth to Mangan Bluff, 100km of it, is rich pickings for Noel Hillam. There are 110 registered shipwrecks 00 this coast, but Noel says he has Jocated another 43 and the entrance to the Kaipara is literally a ship’ graveyard ‘One night Thad a phone call from a fiend, Hel gone diving just off No Head and found a bed of mussels. He pulled some off and when he got home hae found that they were attached toa red coloured wood. [looked att and knew it had come from a Por guese wreck — probably the Cecilia Maria which went missing in 1534 “There ar local legends about this shipwreck and men coming ashore with aches of silver and gold that stood as tall as a man.” ‘What happened to those survivors? “Most, 22, were killed, but the captain was assimilated into the local community and married a local woman," says Noel. But, what happened tothe gold? Nobody knows, But for every wreck that i documented, Noel Hillam believes there are many others outside the ime frame of accepted European knowledge ‘Not just up and down this coast, but right around New Zealand: There's the mystery ofthe “missing caravel” Portuguese ship that was carrying treasure back to Portugal but ‘which was lost somewhere off the west coast ofthe North Island, ‘And then there’ the story ofthe German U-Boat. ‘For years there have been stories in he local pubs about a U-Boat coming ashore in New Zealand in late 1944, The story is that she was carrying Nazi treasure and the crew were ordered to come here and stash it ina disused copper mine that somehow they knew about “Pd heard the story and was contacted by a man who had been diving off the beach after a heavy storm, He was about 200 metres offshore and he fond the nose of arrovs, steel ship with just a single canon on the foredeck. I went up in the plane and could see the dark shape through the water. know exactly where itis While shipwrecks have been a major part of Noel Hillam’ ife there is more. “New Zealand has been inhabited since around 2,240BC, Maori know this and they have names fr them, The frst here were the Urehu, They were avery small race with far hair and skin. Then there were the Patupaiarehe. They ‘were also fair haired and light-skinned but they were of bigger build than the Urehu: Then came the Ngahere. They were also fair skinned” ‘Nobody knows where these people came from The Waitaha were next and they were dark skinned and came to New Zealand from South America via Easter