So you’ve lived in this city a while and you thought you knew everything about the Auckland Domain; the museum, the Wintergarden, ANZAC Day commemorations, duck ponds and cricket etc. Then occasionally you scratch the surface a bit deeper.
Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, the first Māori king, lived in a cottage on this hill in the Domain. I was a bit skeptical because Pōtatau was a Tainui (Waikato) leader. We’re talking mid 1840’s before he was coronated and things had 'gone south' quite literally with the Crown heading south to claim as much Tainui land as they could.
There are no signs of the cottage today but if it was still there it would have a clear view of the museum, hospital and the Sky Tower.
In it's place is this tōtara tree planted by his great granddaughter Princess Te Puea Herangi in 1940 on the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.