dated forage and DNA tested, but we cant Under the Antiquities Act, you must get approval from the local Iw and also the Historic Places Trust. ‘We can get neither — ules they get involved: There's obviously an air of distrust here “Yve been accused of wanting to rewrite history. [don't want to re-write it jst to ell the truth We first heard of the story ofthe Waipoua Forest stone ruins when we ‘met Joan Leaf nine years ago. This was at the height of the Ttford land Aispute when local Maori virtually ran Manganui Bluff farmer Alan Titford off bis property Joan Le in these events and she had written a had taken a keen interest book tha threw into doubt the long held belie that New Zealand was an ‘empty land when Maori arrived here. Joan Leaf suggested that the previously largely unknown stone ruins in the Waipoua Forest were the work of people with Middle Eastern connections — the srt of wild Dights of fancy you gt from, wild-eyed radicals. But Joan Leaf wis quiet, retired school teacher fom the Hokianga with a serious hearing impairment and about as conservative and conventional as you'd get Te Leaf book i not the oly one on the subject. But the Stone City was pushed to one side and forgotten until recent when various mysteries about life in New Zealand surfaced during a conversation colleague. With interest kick-started we et out to ind out more about the “Stone City’ There were plenty of people offering information and advice, but ‘much of i was wild and wacky. Sieving through i, the one person we thought could give usa straight story was Noel Hillam, The Hillam record is proud one and if anyone was going to give us some straight answers it was him, ‘We made arrangements to contact him through the Dargaville Museum and when we arrived the museum phoned his home and we were directed thee, Waiting a the gate, in case we missed it, was Noel and Jlis very prety and very blonde ten yea old OPPOSITE. All that remains of “Maxwell” cottage at Waipuoa Fortest His a stone cairn. The 100 year plus cottage was totally destroyed. by fire last year. Locals say unknown people “sheltering from the rain accidentally set fire to the place when they lit a fire in the fireplace” ‘ABOVE. A more recent wreck on Baylys Beach was this steel yacht, the Aosky which was once owned by famed French pop-singer, Jacques Brel. A Belgian Yacht Club has asked Noe! Hilliam if salvage of the remains is a possibility grand daughter Katie "Noel metus nea the 100 year old family kauri villa dressed in cow cockie's uniform of overalls and _gumboots We asked fist about his plane Ha, you want to see it, come with 1me}’he said as we headed off toa shed jam-packed with all manner of stuff including portholes from the ill-fated Wahine There stood his plane, under a dust cover which he pulled back to give usa clear look ait "When I met Julie, she was already a qualified pilot, she dared me to take it up, [entered a competition where ist prize was a flight training course, won itand got my raining for nothing." The aircrafts undergoing a survey they've said I can do it myself, 0 I've pulled the various bts off it and giving ita thorough going over” Ws obviously much-loved and much used possession. In the house, Julie offers us soup. Katies learning about cleaning Kauri gum. "You need clear methylated spirits, not the purple stuff” say Noe The one hour we've thought this ‘would take stretches into four and it would take another four to even begin to do justice to this man, Building his own aircraft was easy compared to what else he has achieved. ‘While we had the farm, we also had the beach nearby and we sent as much time as we could there. After the war you could buy gas-masks from Farmers Trading for 1/61 sed one of these, the type withthe long trunk and canister atthe end, and a tyre pump to learn hov to dive: Not surprisingly, during the afternoon it becomes clear that he is ‘opposed to many ofthe claims under the Treaty of Waitangi “Many a false." he says without equivocation “The Titford case was a disgrace Totally phoney Does he realise that much of what he {s saying, about Maori being predated by thousands of yeas is playing right into the hands ofthe wild eyed radicals and extreme right wing who would sive anything to prove that Maori are