Events In History
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5 October 2011Shipwrecked Rena spills oil into Bay of Plenty
The German-built Rena was the largest ship ever wrecked in New Zealand waters; although no lives were lost, in financial terms it was our costliest-ever shipwreck. Read more...
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21 June 1864Battle of Te Ranga
At Te Ranga the British sought revenge for their humiliating defeat at the battle of Gate Pā Read more...
Articles
War in Tauranga
During the first half of 1864 the focus of the New Zealand Wars shifted from Waikato to Tauranga. In this phase of the conflict British forces suffered a catastrophic defeat at Pukehinahina – better known as the Gate pā – but later inflicted heavy losses on Māori forces at Te Ranga.
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Page 2 – Invitation to war
The Ngāi Te Rangi leader Rāwiri Puhirake had resisted Wiremu Tāmihana’s request for help during the war in Waikato for fear that this would lead to bloodshed in Tauranga. The
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Page 3 – Gate Pā
Gate Pā was a major disaster for the British military who suffered twice the casualties of the Māori defenders
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Page 4 – British soul searching
British soul-searching after the defeat at Gate Pā did not begin with an acknowledgement of the superior tactics and capability of their enemy.
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Page 5 – Te Ranga
Unlike at Gate Pā, where the British assault had been concentrated at two points, at Te Ranga the British were able to attack all along the line of trenches.
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Page 6 – The fighting ends
By the end of July the Tauranga war was over. Most Ngāi Te Rangi warriors accepted peace and handed over weapons, although many of these were old and of such poor quality as to
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Page 7 – Further information
Links and further reading about the war in Tauranga
Regional rugby
The passion and parochialism of provincial rugby has helped give the game a special place in New Zealand’s social and sporting history. Read brief histories, highlights and quirky facts about each of New Zealand's 26 regional rugby teams.
- Page 10 - Bay of Plenty rugbyHistory and highlights of rugby in the Bay of Plenty
Container shipping
Forty-five years ago, on 19 June 1971, the first all-container ship to visit New Zealand arrived in Wellington. Columbus New Zealand was part of a worldwide revolution in shipping. These simple steel boxes would change our transport industry, our ports and how we work and shop.
- Page 7 - The wreck of the Rena On 5 October 2011 the MSC-chartered, Liberian-flagged container ship Rena astonished local mariners by grounding on the clearly marked Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga. Three months
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Largest urban centre and city in Bay of Plenty, 107 km east of Hamilton. Tauranga dates from the establishment of a Church Missionary Society mission at Te Papa, as it was then known, in the 1830s. During the wars of the 1860s the government established two redoubts (fortifications) there. The original mission house, The Elms, still stands, as do the remains of the Monmouth redoubt. From the 1910s, as dairying developed in neighbouring districts, the population grew. Growth was further fostered in the later twentieth century by horticulture – in particular kiwifruit growing – in surrounding districts and by the lifestyle appeal of the town.