If Taketakerau could talk – what stories it would tell? While it may be ‘silent', the story of the 2000-year-old puriri tree in the Hukutaia Domain in Opotiki has been told in the book ‘Taketakerau; The Millennium Tree' by local author Marnie Anstis.

Marine lives not far from the domain and has long been fascinated by the tree, which was once used by the Upokorehe hapu as a place to store the bones of their distinguished dead.

When, in the early days of European settlement, a storm damaged the tree and exposed the bones, they were removed by local iwi for burial elsewhere.

However, Taketakerau remains highly tapu and the hollow where bones were once kept is clearly visible today.

Fact and imagination

In her book Marine weaves fact with imagination to tell two millenniums of history revolving around Taketakerau, which stands at the heart of the Hukutaia Domain – a place well worth a visit.

The domain is a five hectare remnant of extensive native forest that was set aside as a reserve by one of the original owners Mr E M Hutchinson in the early-1900s mainly to protect Taketakerau. From 1930 to 1970 Norman Potts, a keen local amateur botanist, travelled throughout New Zealand including offshore islands gathering rare and endangered plants – some of which now form a very valuable botanical at the domain.

Walking tracks

He was also instrumental in developing the reserve with walking tracks and his work was continued by Marc Heginbotham through the 1970s to 1990.

Today Hukutaia Domain is owned by the Opotiki District Council. A care group looks after the domain by way of maintenance, pest control and development with generous help from the district council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Brochures, information sheets and notices about various topics are available in the domain. To get to the Hukutaia Domain, on leaving Opotiki township turn left immediately after crossing the Waioeka Bridge heading west on to Woodlands Rd and drive 7km to very near the end where you will find the domain sign.

To find out more about the book, its author, artist and Taketakerau, or to find out where to buy copies of the book, see: www.themillenniumtree.com