Flowing into the Whangarei Harbour opposite Tamatarau is Skull Creek. At its entrance, the beach is restricted by a barrier of rock running into the sea, while a few yards inland steep cliffs rise to a low-lying plateau called Maungawhati, which in early days was connected to the bush hills behind by a ridge.

This ridge, which was on the southern bank of the creek, was the site of Maungawhati, a pa belonging to the Patuharakeke tribe. This tribe was a favoured one for it had an unlimited supply of fish and shellfish from the harbour, birds and timber from the bush, and kumara, taro and hue from their fertile flats.

Unfortunately, the rich harvests of their cultivations led to frequent raids. Eventually they decided to move their plantations about eight miles inland at the head of a tidal creek. Thismeant that their crops could be guarded and when ready, transported to their pa to be stored in their rua-kumara.

Twice a year, most of the tribe went to the plantations, first to plant and later to harvest their kumara. While the people were working in their gardens, the chief, with a handful of old men, kept a rigid lookout for the approach of any enemies.

From the summit of his pa, an unrestricted view, both up and down the harbour, made the detection of a war party an easy task. Knowing that he had only a few men on the pa, the chief relied on strategy in case of emergency.

But strategy was not his perogative alone. In the early 1800's, about a month before the kumara harvest, a canoe manned by an observation party from the Ngatipukenga tribe slipped out of Tauranga Harbour and landed under cover of darkness on Ruakaka Beach.

From here several warriors were sent to spy out the land and learn what they could about the rich crops of the Patuharakeke. The remainder of the party took their canoe up the coast and went into hiding. They had been ordered to pick up the observation party in a week's time, and then return to Tauranga.

During that time, the spies studied the layout of the pa and learned that in a month's time most of its people would be away at the cultivations. More important, only the chief and a few old people would be left behind. Elated at what they had heard, they returned home to help make preparations for an assault on the pa.

A month later, the Ngatipukenga of Tauranga sent a war party to the Whangarei Harbour. Fortunately, the chief of the Patuharakeke was on the lookout point on his pa and saw his enemies approaching. Stealthily drawing nearer and nearer towards Skull Creek were six or seven war canoes whose warriors were using piles of seaweed at high water mark as a camouflage to hide them and enable them to make a surprise attack on the pa.

The chief had about an hour before his enemies would be upon him. Quick decisions were vital. He sent a messenger to his cultivations asking his men to return with the swiftness of a bird's flight, but even so, he knew the journey would take at least three hours before they could reach the pa.

So in the meantime, he instructed every available man to gather all weapons and take them to a place just below its summit. Then he told them to wait until the canoes reached a spot where there was a break in the mangroves and the pa would be in full though distant view of the enemy warriors.

This was the moment for each man in turn to seize a weapon and run into position behind the palisade, and then, unobserved by the enemy, make his way back to the pile of weapons. He was to keep repeating this performance over and over again until ordered to stop.

As the war party came into sight, the chief watched anxiously to see whether his ruse would baffle the attackers. It worked. The Ngatipukenga were puzzled. He saw the canoes pause, the chiefs have a quick consultation, and finally retreat out of the harbour.

But the chief was not deceived by this move. He knew that they would send out more spies to discover when his men were returning to the plantations. So he sent the women and children to the gardens and divided his warriors into two parties, one of which was to attack the raiders on Maungawhati ridge and keep them occupied until attacked from the rear by the second party.

The second taua he instructed to gather stones and dump them at high water mark just out of sight of the beach and hide their weapons nearby. At a signal from him, they were to fill the enemy canoes with these rocks to make them too heavy to move.

Each morning, both parties were ordered to move off as if going to the gardens so that the spies would signal this to the raiders. But in reality, the Patuharakeke would steal back and take up the strategic positions arranged.

The chiefs confidence was well founded. In the early morning light some weeks later, their attack caught the Ngatipukenga completely unprepared and they suffered a crushing defeat that destroyed their mana in the eyes of other tribes for many years.

When the victorious warriors returned to their pa on the shores of the Whangarei Harbour, they brought back many canoes laden with the spoils of war. Their success was celebrated by a great hakari that continued day and night for a week. The fame of their chief was immortalised in song and dance and stories of his exploits spread throughout the whole of the North and beyond.

Referenced from Florence Keene's Tai Tokerau, Northland Room, Whangarei Library