Saturday March 14, 2015: Traveled from the south island to the north island via the Cook Strait ferry crossing between Picton of the south and Wellington of the north. A partly sunny mildly warm day degraded to a blustery overcast transformation by the time we had threaded our way through the channel out to the Pacific. Standing on the top deck as we neared the open ocean was quite a challenge in the 30 knot wind plus 15 knot underway motion providing a apparent wind of 45 knots. It gave me some pause thinking that perhaps being on the open ocean under such conditions in a 40 foot sailboat may not be entirely a comfortable or prudent thing to pursue. Regardless, we made it safely to Wellington with no seasickness bags needed. In fact I even indulged on a fresh scone with whipped cream, butter, and strawberry jam to settle my stomach. Cindy declined my offer of seafaring vittles! One thing yet from the south island that was curious were the not uncommon hillsides that appeared to have uneven corduroy patterns almost as if the farmers had attempted to terrace the hillside but either got tired of the effort or had one pint too many. After an interpretive nature walk on the east coast of the south island at the Kiakoura peninsula, the identity of these patterned hillsides became clear. The Maori were quite loving to their own family and tribal members but they were also notorious for warring with other tribes that were competing or trying to invade their territory. In an effort to prevent these incursions on their land, provisions, and most importantly their women, the Maori constructed numerous fortified fortresses or “pa” as they were called consisting of an hilltop fort surrounded by several levels or palisades of sharp pole picket fences on terraces and underlying trenches. This enabled protection for the tribe and warriors against enemies trying to storm their land and gave them the protection they needed from superior forces. Of course this tactic was completely neutralized with the English introduction of the musket in the early 1800’s, when the Maori tribes that traded with the white man and gained access to these new instruments of death, quickly overpowered neighboring tribes regardless of fortifications. The photo below shows one of these old fortification sites.
In the foreground is a hill containing the remnant of a Maori fortress or "Pa" that protected local inhabitants from invading warriors.
This panel illustrates how the fortifications were constructed to prevent the incursions from warriors that had probably beached their ocean going canoes before heading inland. No date was given for these sites but presumably they may be a couple to a several hundred years old.
