not really Tangata Whenua — people of the land? ‘Yes, but is something I believe in Julie believes in her husband. “He never really had the recognition he deserves” she say, referring to his ‘work building the museum, his tireless how devotion to unearthing New Zealand fying search and rescue, his history: ‘With dusk coming on we pile in his yellow Isuzu four wheel drive van and head off to the beach to look at some shipwrecks We get onto the beach via the Mahuta Gorge —a narrow winding track down between massive sandhills, There used to bea Toheroa processing factory here he says 2 Pointing to one large sand bill "I's ———— oy erie buried under there. And there used to E ‘ = BATH be eight or nine baches along here, but the stream flooded and washed them AGREEMENT FOR THE TRANSFER OF ARCHIVES pes Dial Consol | Nae His kn wedge of th immense, He knows everything and everyone, His ability to instantly ell dates, events, people and places is impressive, Hees cautious on the beach even those pacer er reer ne ee ag el rrr ee he's spent much of hs life here, "Never lost a vehicle, and don't intend to: We stop and look at what remains of pee cre co || rere | ae ahfex. £ Per ay. pe pil | ashore in a storm in 1994. min Leretaese bares 2» | | re says — itt 90 feet long, 23 feet wide and she's under about 70 feet of sand he says pointing toa flat expanse of enh esto re sand ce ele as ee seas Udon He shows us where the LAlemene nA lpg ie is buried at Baylys Beach and then we stop and look atthe French memorial to the ship. He’ obviously proud his name ison the plaques. Back at some of his meticulous files and select «house we go through TOP. The memorial plaque at Baylys Beach commissioned by the photographs. French government to commemorate the finding of L’Alemene. Ws geting late. Dinner and a bed are LOWER. The document that was originally lodged enforcing a 75 on offer but we depart and head for year embargo on the findings in Waipuoa Forest. The embargo was, the Funky Fish Cafe in Bayys Beach infact, lifted in 1996 and those who have bothered to read the report for dinner and down onto the beach say itis a catalogue of the stone sites in the forest, but makes to attempt to identify who built them, nor makes any claim as to thei age where we park our VW van high above h water mark and settle down into ‘our comfortable arbed forthe night, listening in the dark to the heavy surf pounding the beach and we dream of pirates, shipwrecks, U-Boats and Stone