Page 6 - A Walk from Wellington to New Plymouth

water soon coming over the top of his boots and not knowing how much deeper it might be, we
determined to wait for morning and accordingly made our bed in the fern which grew in patches
on the said hills.”

(SEA COAST NEAR THE RIVER OHAU S. C. Brees 1849 ) see reference below to “Ohow”
This is the view looking south. William, heading north, may have looked back to see this view.
At this point we are at the Ohau River mouth, just a few miles short of today’s Foxton Beach. GK

“31 December We woke about an hour before day break, packed up our things, took a dram and
started along the beach for the next village Waikani (Waikanae GK) which we reached about 5 in
the morning and the tide being out we had no difficulty in crossing the river. This village
consisted of a straggling collection of houses and not knowing where to find the Inn we went to
the largest and most respectable looking house which proved to belong to Major Drury,
Commander of the police in that district who as soon as he saw us, got up and went with us to a
policeman's house whom he called up and directed to shew us the way to the Inn, here we went
to bed until about nine when we had breakfast of meat and potatoes, it being the custom in this
country to have meat and potatoes with each meal and generally tea. We rested here this
afternoon and the next day. I forgot to say at Waikani we saw a handsome church built by the
natives, the outside is of wood and the roof thatched and the inside reed lashed together by flax
and so formed to represent pillars and altogether it had a very pretty effect, here also we saw a
fine specimen of a native pah or village encircled by an open fence or stockade about 12 feet
high and at intervals the posts were five or six feet higher than the rest and the tops were carved
to represent deities, for although they do not worship idols now, they still retain them for
ornament.
Wednesday we left Ohow (Ohau) accompanied by a native girl whom we became acquainted with
on the road between Waikaini and Ohow and whom we found very useful as she carried us on
her back across the streams and found us some shell fish to eat, we had engaged a guide here
over night to carry our baggage but in the morning he said he was sick and could not go, so we
walked on as before, about 22 miles this day and slept at a poor hut with no floor but ground and