I'm Kevin Biggar. And I'm Jamie Fitzgerald. And we're modern-day adventurers who have travelled all over NZ. In the past few years, we've traversed some of the most dangerous mountains,... LAUGHS: I left my ice axe! ...wildest rivers and rugged trails. Oh! Now we're stepping back in time, retracing the footsteps of early pioneers,... Whoa! ...bringing the past back to life with tales of heroic rescue attempts,... Just take it slow, Kev! ...shipwrecks,... Oh no! ...and deadly pursuits,... It's getting deep! ...where human endurance is pushed to the absolute limit. (YELLS) (YELLS) SPLASH! This week ` Te Urewera, the last frontier of the NZ Wars. Oh, rough down here. It was in this remote and unforgiving landscape that one of NZ's most infamous manhunts took place. What a place! For over three years, Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki evaded government forces and certain death. Gilbert Mair was Te Kooti's nemesis, never giving up the hunt. Oh, he's swimming! A Pakeha highly regarded by some Maori, yet he fought on the side of the government. Te Kooti fought for the rights of his people. Oh! So slippery. But was he a barbaric savage or a peaceful prophet forced to resort to violence, after a series of questionable land confiscations? Just go easy` Whoa! You all right? (GRUNTS) The echoes of this astonishing story can still be felt today. Copyright Able 2014 ANTICIPATIVE MUSIC BOAT ENGINE ROARS MUSIC GROWS We're in a dive boat off the east coat of the North Island, heading towards landfall near Gisborne. Even today, most of the hills in front of us are covered in bush. But for Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki and his followers, that made the perfect landing site in July 1868. Two years earlier, while fighting alongside government forces in Poverty Bay, Te Kooti was arrested as a spy under questionable circumstances. He was exiled to the Chatham Islands, and despite his protests, he was detained without trial for two years. It was here, during acute bouts of fever, that he experienced strange visions and he became the spiritual leader of the Ringatu, or upraised hand religion. In 1868, he led a daring escape of almost 300 prisoners, many of them battle-hardened warriors from previous wars. They commandeered a schooner and sailed it to near here, to Whareongaonga Bay. It was the first step in what was to be NZ's greatest manhunt. On the other side was Gilbert Mair. He was a public servant who volunteered for the colonial forces. In an a extraordinary coincidence, he actually met Te Kooti when he visited the Chatham Islands. Little did he know that he would be spending the next three years of his life chasing him and his followers across the central North Island. But there are some big question marks around the story of Te Kooti and Mair. Was Te Kooti a charismatic prophet, dedicated to restoring the rights of his people, or was he a guerrilla warrior, committed to causing havoc wherever he went? And Mair ` was he a righteous avenger, trying to protect innocent lives, or was he just a pawn in a larger game on land-grabbing and nation-building? We're headed for Te Urewera to find out. We're gonna follow the chase, and see if we can make sense of what really happened. STEADY PIANO MUSIC OK, guys, this is about as close as we can come. Hey, thanks, Dean. Hey, thanks, Dean. Good luck. Cheers, guys. Hey, thanks, Dean. Good luck. Cheers, guys. BOTH: Three, two, one. Te Kooti's flight from the Chathams was not his first death-defying escape. A troublesome child, legend has it that his father buried him alive in a kumara pit, not far from where we are now, but he managed to escape, and was adopted by his uncle. The swell's keeping us off the cliff! Are you on the bottom? Are you on the bottom? Yup. When he came ashore in 1868, there must have been a great sense of relief at being back home. But it wouldn't last. Let's see what we've got. Oh, muskets. We haven't had much luck with these in the past. What is this stuff? What is this stuff? Yeah. This looks like a... I guess it's like a rain cover. Like a Batman cape or something, isn't it? Is this meant to protect us? Is this meant to protect us? It doesn't seem nearly enough. Is this meant to protect us? It doesn't seem nearly enough. Maybe our backs, but not our fronts. What have you got there? What have you got there? I've got, like, a second blanket here. Hang on a second. This isn't a blanket. It's a kilt! (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) That's not very practical where we're going. If we're climbing up a steep mountain, I'm going in front if you're wearing that. Oh, here we go. Now, we've done a little bit of using this stuff in the past ` flax rope. Yeah, we haven't had much luck with it either. Look at that. Yeah, we haven't had much luck with it either. Look at that. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) It's ridiculous. Te Kooti was now a wanted man. The best chance for him and his followers to remain free was to seek refuge with the Maori King movement and the Tuhoe tribes. But King Tawhiao and Tuhoe both rejected him. He tried to negotiate with the colonial government, but they were only interested in recapturing him. Backed into a corner, Te Kooti felt he had only one option. Te Kooti's first real act of war was a vicious attack on the township of Matawhero, just outside of Gisborne. 54 people were slaughtered in what was seen as a revenge attack for Te Kooti's wrongful imprisonment. And yet his warrior force swelled to 250, mostly those that were disgruntled from recent land confiscations. But many of these new followers were motivated by fear. Most of the victims of the massacre were the men and their families who had played a part in exiling him to the Chathams, including several Maori chiefs. Te Kooti had sent a strong message ` 'Oppose me at your peril.' This is a very special spot, because this is Matawhero, and this church is the only building that Te Kooti left standing after his raid. The other thing about this place is that after the battle, this church was used as the hospital to treat all of the wounded. It's a pretty cool part of history, eh? It's a pretty cool part of history, eh? Very sombre. The brutal killings at Matawhero created powerful Maori enemies. Te Kooti and his followers fled deep into the heart of Tuhoe country, with colonial forces in hot pursuit. It didn't take long before Te Kooti found himself in very dense bush. The travelling was very difficult, but hiding was very easy. And he and his followers were able to evade their pursuers... by travelling deeper and deeper into the bush. The Arawa Flying Column was a group of about a hundred young men from the tribes around Rotorua. They were trained and led into an incredibly efficient fighting force by Gilbert Mair. They travelled fast and light, and their mission was clear ` to find and kill Te Kooti. OMINOUS MUSIC However, that was easier said than done. Te Kooti was incredibly resourceful. And he knew the lay of the land. In good weather, with children and supplies, they could make 5km to 6km a day through the rough terrain. But the central North Island is no place to be exposed in the middle of winter. It's prone to heavy rain, fierce winds and snow, and some of his followers died of starvation and exhaustion along the way. Eventually, Te Kooti headed to the only place he knew that could provide refuge. Te Kooti's people made it here to Ngatapa, a hillside fortress that seemed unassailable. Surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs, it had a commanding view of the countryside and apparently no real weaknesses... ...except for its water supply. If the armed forces were able to secure all access to water, then it would be only a matter of time before Te Kooti and his people would be forced to either surrender or, well, die of thirst. Faced with near-vertical cliffs on three sides and a large militia force on the other, it seemed Te Kooti had no way out. The battle up here at Ngatapa lasted for three days, but for Te Kooti, well, things were getting desperate. He had to formulate an escape plan. It was ambitious and very dangerous. Under cover of darkness, Te Kooti and most of his followers would try and lower themselves down the steepest side of Ngatapa using vines and flax ropes. It's crazy stuff, huh? It's crazy stuff, huh? They must have been so desperate. I guess after three days with women, children, everything up here, maybe they'd started running out of water. It was an insane idea. We weren't the only ones who thought so, because the militia forces were guarding the other three sides. But they didn't guard this side, because they thought it would just be crazy to try and get down. Yeah. Yeah. Ooh, just enough. Yeah. Ooh, just enough. Yeah, just enough. That's good, eh? Right, so, um, here you go. Right, so, um, here you go. (LAUGHS) No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You know when we go training in the climbing gyms and stuff, and one of us is at the bottom belaying the other? and one of us is at the bottom belaying the other? Yeah. OK, so if I'm at the bottom, looking at you coming down,... uh, I'm just not willing to do it. Oh, I see what you're talking about. Oh, I see what you're talking about. So can you agree to go first? Oh, I see what you're talking about. So can you agree to go first? Fair enough. I guess for once he's got an excuse. All right. So, just remember ` as fast as you can, but as quiet as you can. Last time I used a flax rope like this, do you remember what happened? Last time I used a flax rope like this, do you remember what happened? (LAUGHS) Just take it easy, mate. Just take it easy, mate. Yeah. Whoa, it's slippery. There's mud on here. Just go easy` Whoa! Just go easy` Whoa! Ooh! Just go easy` Whoa! Ooh! You all right? Yup, yup, good. Holding on. Can you flip around and get your feet under? Yeah, that's it. Good job. I was worried. > You were worried? You were worried? I was worried you were gonna flip upside down. You good? Did I make any noise? You're good. You're super. They haven't noticed you yet. You're good. You're super. They haven't noticed you yet. (LAUGHS) Now, I'm using the old mountaineering shoulder abseil, which is slow and inefficient and more than a little awkward. You'd hate to be the last person coming down on a well-used flax rope. (PANTS) That's good. How are your hands feeling? > How are your hands feeling? > It's good if the flax doesn't cut too much. Yeah? > Yeah? > But just don't trust your feet, though. Those slips look horrible, mate. I might come down with my knees against it... OK, if that's what you think. OK, if that's what you think. ...and try and go hand over hand. OK, if that's what you think. ...and try and go hand over hand. Oh, OK, yeah. WHISPERS: He's absolutely crazy. He'll never be able to do it. OK, here I come! OK, here I come! < Take it easy. Whoa! Whoa! < Ooh! That was the start that I wasn't really hoping for. Let's keep going. The technique I'm using is probably what they would have used. The advantage of going hand over hand is speed, which, of course, was important for them. (GROANS) (GROANS) < Oh, you all right? It's a bit slippery. (GROANS) < Jeepers. (GRUNTS) < That's it. Yeah, just slide. Oh, you did amazing. How are your hands? They're munted. I mean, all this stuff ` all this dirt and mud ` it just gets embedded into it. I really should have had it wrapped around me. But what an amazing job, to do it under cover of darkness, coming down this slope! They had to try and be as quiet as they could, and they had women and children. That's amazing. I mean, I could just about see a guide doing this, but to do it with kids, they gotta be some pretty fit kids. But they managed to do it, though. They managed to get 300 people down off the mountain and into the valley. But there must have been some noise, though, because their escape was detected, and again the hunt was on. And unfortunately ` well, depending on whose side you're on ` they managed catch 120 of them and bring them back here. Those stragglers that they caught, once they took them back up to the top, up at Ngatapa, they got the men out and they cruelly executed every single one of them as a... I guess, a point of utu, or revenge. And afterwards, they hiffed them off the top of the cliff, towards the bottom again. It might even be this cliff here. The government had come close to getting their man, but the second escape only further enhanced his formidable reputation. This defeat now had him on the back foot, but it wouldn't be long till Te Kooti gained the upper hand. We're in Te Urewera, in the central North Island, on the chase of one of NZ's most notorious rebels ` Te Kooti. Having just made a seemingly impossible escape from the colonial forces at Ngatapa, he and 500 followers were on the run again in some of NZ's most impenetrable bush. Urewera is the home of the Tuhoe people, and while some supported Te Kooti, many did not, fearing the bloodshed and the trouble that he could bring to the region. He passed through here at Lake Waikaremoana, en route to making raids around the Whakatane region. They were always trying to gain further supplies and even find extra recruits for the cause. Why do you think he had such` this powerful hold over his people? I mean, we know that he was very charismatic, right, and an amazing orator. I think he was also at the right time, because there was a lot of disaffected young people around, because of the confiscations that had taken place. He was this really powerful symbol of hope for them. If you were a critic or cynic of Te Kooti, though, it didn't pay to, sort of, speak up, right? Yeah. Yeah. You didn't tend to last long. He had a kind of a dark side to him. I think if you showed any kind of disloyalty, then you weren't around for very long. then you weren't around for very long. No way. The Tuhoe people are known as Nga Tamariki o te Kohu, The Children of the Mist, and it's an apt description. The landscape is harsh ` steep hills, dense bush and fierce rivers, constantly shrouded in mist, rain and snow. When you stop to take a look around, you just very quickly appreciate how magnificent the scenery is. It's just so vast, so... intimidating. It's easy to see how the local people have formed such a special bond with this place. With Te Kooti on the run in their lands, Tuhoe were finally forced to choose whether to support him or not. Now they decided they would, which meant Te Kooti again had access to food and ammunition. From a military point of view, the opportunities for ambush around here are amazing. Or hiding. Or hiding. (CHUCKLES) But hiding isn't what Te Kooti had in mind, and it wasn't long before he struck again. He led a particularly vicious attack at Mohaka, where 60 people, both Maori and Pakeha, lost their lives. Gilbert Mair and the Arawa Flying Column were mobilised again, but by then, Te Kooti had marched back to his sanctuary in Te Urewera. Te Kooti passed through here on his way to set up a base camp on the shores of Lake Waikaremoana, in the heart of Te Urewera. And that made perfect sense, because then, as now, it's one of the most difficult and remote places in the country. But for Mair, that also meant that it was a nightmare to find him. Oh, here we go. Slippery, eh? Slippery, eh? Yeah. It seems incredible that several hundred people could come into here and then simply vanish, but that's exactly what happened. It just gives you an appreciation of how vast this landscape is. (PANTS) SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC Te Kooti knew this area well, and he also knew from his time fighting on the side of the Pakeha how their leaders fought and thought, so he introduced guerrilla tactics into the NZ Wars. He would use a small group of men. They would strike fast, and then they would slip off into the bush. But Gilbert Mair's men were not trained like other Pakeha units. Mair was a fearless fighter and led from the front. In his diaries he recounts that on several occasions, he was charged by tomahawk-wielding warriors, and he had only one shot to avoid meeting a grisly demise. Now, Mair had no established path to go through the countryside, so his route finding was a bit of a gamble. There may have been signs of others coming though, but they may have equally been a trap by Te Kooti... that led him to somewhere just like this. < There's a lot of water down here. < There's a lot of water down here. < Oh, wow. < There's a lot of water down here. < Oh, wow. < It's a canyon. Is there anything more like this? I don't wanna get sucked under that. Is there anything more like this? I don't wanna get sucked under that. No, there's nothing like this. We might be OK. But once we're in there, there's no getting out. DRAMATIC MUSIC Take it easy. Don't step under that rock. That's yours. Oh, it's not deep. Oh, it's not deep. It's not? Oh, it's not deep. It's not? No. The freezing water would have been the least of their worries. They had to keep their guns and ammunition above the water, while trying to keep a good foothold on the slippery rocks and avoid becoming trapped under submerged boulders. Whoa! I'm pretty glad I'm not wearing the kilt for this part of the journey. Hold on! Hold on! It's getting deep! It must have been hard to know where to look. Is it below you, to avoid the boulders and branches waiting to catch a foot and send you tumbling under the water? Or up above, to try and catch a glimpse of an enemy musket? What a place! Imagine... coming down here with, you know, your muskets above you. What a death trap! Can you touch the bottom? Can you touch the bottom? Not yet, not yet. Oh, here we go. Oh, here we go. Yeah. Oh! Oh! Oh, thanks, bro. That was crazy. Far out. That was ridiculou` Oh! And then just one final rock underneath to get my shin. (LAUGHS) It's incredibly cold in here. Those walls, they just go straight up either side. There's no way to get out. It's like a channel. It just sluices you down. But, you know, it did make me think that it's a pretty good spot if you're trying to run away or create a trap for, you know, others. Soon after coming back from the Chathams, Te Kooti was escaping some of the colonial forces, and there was a spot along a river where he was able to take advantage of it. The, uh, forces were chasing him, but he found lots of places like this, where he could shoot down at them from the top. And when the forces started to retreat, he was smart enough to have people also on the way back. The longer he remained on the run, the more it strengthened his status among his followers. Gilbert Mair and the Arawa Flying Column engaged Te Kooti's forces on several occasions, but they weren't able to get their man. It seems amazing that these skirmishes were fought at such close quarters, often within 20yds. Yet still, he was able to give Mair's men the slip. You know, Te Kooti, he was such a clever opponent for Mair and all of the other colonial forces. He'd often be going through the bush setting traps for them, and these lures would try and bring them in. One of the, sort of, techniques he used was often lighting a fire. A fire's a bit of a mixed blessing in the bush at night-time if you're being hunted, because it keeps you warm, and you really need that at the end of a long, wet day. But you can see it at night-time. It would be like a beacon,... Mm. Mm. ...uh, across the other side of a valley. And so, uh, what Mair would do was something` have a completely different approach. He would just simply camp without a fire. That's hard core. He would just simply camp without a fire. That's hard core. It is. It is. Te Kooti, uh, he had his own strategy for camping. He would often sleep away from his men. And it saved his bacon more than once, because the main camp would get attacked, but Te Kooti would hear that, and be able to slip off into the night. Pretty clever, eh? So what's our technique tonight? Sleeping next to the fire or away from it? I think that they will know that this is a trap and avoid it. I think that they will know that this is a trap and avoid it. Yeah, they'll walk straight past it. Looks like a trap to me. Let's keep the fire going. Looks like a trap to me. Let's keep the fire going. (LAUGHS) I see that you, uh... you've mocked my kilt quite a bit. I see that you, uh... you've mocked my kilt quite a bit. (LAUGHS) And now ` eh? It's turning into another blanket. And now ` eh? It's turning into another blanket. It's not too bad. I tell you what ` staying out here at night just makes you think just how creepy the nights must have been for them. The fact that Gilbert Mair was pursuing so avidly, so doggedly, for so long,... Yeah. Yeah. ...I-I`It's hard to get inside his head a little bit, you know? He must have had a... a strong... sense of justice or duty, or something. As tough as it is trying to get some sleep under the bush with, kind of, very little, you know, anything. I'm just pleased that no one's gonna be keeping an eye out for us and, you know... ...trying to shoot us? ...trying to shoot us? Yeah. Any of those things. DEEP DRUM MUSIC By now the government was becoming desperate. They posted a �5000 reward, equivalent to more than $600,000 today. Te Kooti and his followers battled on, not just through their enemies, but through this really dense bush, till they reached the western end of Lake Waikaremoana. The big advantage about trying to defend this spot is that because this part of the lake is separated from the main part by a narrow stretch of water, then it's very hard to have a surprise attack. Because it's one of the more remote parts of the lake, it's very hard to the militia forces to sneak up over land. And even if they do get here, you've got these amazing natural cliffs that form a very impressive defensive wall, which means the attack can only come from one way. Te Kooti had once again showed his cunning and resourcefulness, but as he dug himself into his stronghold, what he didn't know what that the frustrated government was about to counter with a brutal and controversial strategy of their own. Renowned Maori leader Te Kooti and his followers are on the run in Te Urewera in the central North Island. The year is 1869, and Gilbert Mair and his Arawa Flying Column have been tracking Te Kooti for months. Despite several run-ins, the rebel has managed to slip through their fingers, thanks in part to the incredibly wild terrain. Whoa. Each faction had access to horses. It was great in the flat for speed, but it also meant sure-footedness in the rough. Watch out, Kev. (GROANS) But in the dense bush, they were even more likely to get entangled and stuck as a man on foot. There's always a low-hanging branch ready to take you out. Did you`? (LAUGHS) Did the gun get caught up in the trees back there? Did you`? (LAUGHS) Did the gun get caught up in the trees back there? It got pretty tight in there. It's amazing. These horses are fantastic. They seem to find a way through the trees. But what they couldn't find was Te Kooti's trail, so the Flying Column systematically scoured the bush, and eventually managed to narrow down the area they might be hiding in. It's pretty narrow, Kev. It's pretty narrow, Kev. Yeah. The landscape around Te Kooti's camp was very steep and rugged, and even though Mair and his troops knew approximately where he was... Come on. Come on, boy. Ooh! There's no way they could surprise him. Good boy! Good boy. It may not look like it, but this track is steep. I need to put all of my trust in my horse ` something that makes me very nervous. Without horses, they would've had to have travelled much lighter and slower, and in this steep ground, that would have been a nightmare. Good boy! Good boy. Far out! (CHUCKLES) That was the adrenalin rush I wasn't sure if I was ready for, eh. That was the adrenalin rush I wasn't sure if I was ready for, eh. It was incredible. So steep. That was crazy! One slip of the horse, and you feel like you would be catapulted down the hill. And we were coming down, it was just like, you're leaning back on it, you felt all this effort going on your legs. I'd had to think how old Whiskey was feeling here with me on top of it. But I tell you what ` this terrain, trying to be all covert, I don't know how they did it. What's the other option? You don't wanna be without a horse around here. There's just too much land to cover. There's just too much land to cover. Yeah, I think they were pretty keen to keep going, eh. Should we head up this way? Should we head up this way? Yeah, you lead the way. And it wasn't just narrow tracks they had to contend with. Let's go. Ooh. Ooh. Here we go. Let's go. Ooh! Ooh! He's swimming, just about! These rivers can rise quickly in bad weather, making them dangerous to cross and a deadly barrier when retreating from an ambush. Te Kooti's association with horses ran very deep. He had a white one named Pokai Whenua, and it was believed to have had spiritual powers. But he also had a black one that shadowed the group at the rear, but that was considered tapu or sacred. His followers believed that these were two of the four horses referred to in the Book of Revelations ` the horses of the Apocalypse. In May 1869, the hunt for him and his followers took a major turn. After multiple failed attempts to try and capture him, the government dispatched three columns of soldiers to the area, including Mair's Arawa Column, to try and crush Te Kooti's rebellion. The colonial forces implemented the controversial scorched-earth policy and systematically decimated the Tuhoe villagers and their crops. They also removed the people from the land, effectively destroying Tuhoe's ability to shelter him. Although this weakened Te Kooti's already fragile position, it did nothing to weaken his resolve to eject all Europeans out of NZ and possibly put himself on the top of the mantle as leader across all of the land. The government's invasion force soon found itself in trouble, though. Their supply lines became very thin; uh, their`their troop lines became stretched out; and they knew further up the valley that Te Kooti was well dug in and waiting for them. So they decided with winter coming that they'd make it as far as here, Ruatahuna, before starting to withdraw. I mean, it just freaks me out, thinking that there are people that created a village, worked hard, created this arable land, had their own crops and then it disappears. You can see how hard that is with the bush right here. You can see how hard that is with the bush right here. Yeah. I think it's crazy. It's such a hammer, this scorched-earth, uh, idea. Yeah. I mean, it must have just risked turning the whole population against them. Yeah. Now having lost almost all of his support from Tuhoe, and with the constant threat of Gilbert Mair and his troops returning, Te Kooti and his followers decided to leave the Urewera region and head overland to Lake Taupo. By now it was June 1869 and the group in size had dwindled to about 150 hearty supporters. The midwinter trek... (PANTS) must have been hideous. Te Kooti's plan was to again seek protection from the Maori King, who had until now refused to support him. The chase was about to come to a head, but there was to be a bloody final stand, one of the last major battles of the NZ Wars. TENSE MUSIC The great Maori warrior Te Kooti has fled his stronghold in Te Urewera and is heading towards Lake Taupo. A large contingent of government forces has attacked a number of Tuhoe villages, systematically destroying crops and driving the people from their land. They've dealt a near-fatal blow to Te Kooti's cause, but he is still refusing to surrender. Just 14km short of Taupo,... here at Opepe, an advanced party of Te Kooti's came across a unit of the Bay of Plenty cavalry who were out looking for him. Not expecting Te Kooti's forces to be so close, the commanding officer didn't put up any guard. The men were surrounded in the night, and nine of the 14 were mercilessly and quickly dispatched. It was one of the most one-sided battles in all of the NZ Wars. The other five escaped to spread the news. Te Kooti's intentions were clear ` he wasn't here to make friends. It's a pretty good example of these guerrilla tactics ` him just coming up, and his people, just coming up and surprising these guys. This was a very sneaky one. The soldiers were around a campfire; uh, out of the bush, a smiling, uh, Maori face appeared and then another and then another, and then before they knew it ` in fact, just as they twigged ` the shooting started. I mean, they wouldn't have had time to, you know, jump back into their tents or get their guns or anything. It would have been horrifying. It would have been horrifying. They had a chance to run into the bush, and the ones that couldn't, this is what happened to them. The ambush at Opepe is a grim reminder of the savagery of the times, but it gave a much-needed morale boost to Te Kooti's men. Not only did the victory clear the way for their march to Taupo, but it also provided them with rifles, revolvers and horses for their fight against the government. Te Kooti's mission now was to march 130km to Te Kuiti... in a renewed bid to convince King Tawhiao to join forces and drive the Pakeha from their lands. But King Tawhiao refused to see Te Kooti. I mean, it must have been a kick in the guts, not to be able to have that meeting. You gotta why Tawhiao wouldn't see him, and I guess it's because even though they're on the same side, I think he was worried about all the attention, all the colonial forces that were chasing Te Kooti, now would be against him. You mean, if it was gonna bring any extra trouble into the region? You mean, if it was gonna bring any extra trouble into the region? Yeah, yeah, yeah. After a month of fruitless negotiations with the King movement, Te Kooti returned to the southern shore of Lake Taupo. But his time in Te Kuiti hadn't been entirely wasted ` he had managed to find many new converts for the cause, and his numbers had now swelled to around 800 with a third of these his fighting force. But he quickly learned that the government was about to launch their largest attack on him yet. His response was to build a trench path. It was styled after a European redoubt. It was here at Te Porere, at the base of Mt Tongariro. It was poorly thought out, and described later as an 'ineptly-executed example of cultural shoplifting.' Ouch! It was still an impressive fortress, though. So it was here that Te Kooti decided that he would make a stand. 800 people. That's a lot, isn't it? That's a lot, isn't it? It is. They did well. They didn't have diggers. It wasn't just here ` there was another redoubt up here, but still, it's an amazing, impressive amount of earthwork that they did. Yeah. Yeah. I guess he had the charisma and the leadership to swell his numbers again, after they'd been depleted. to swell his numbers again, after they'd been depleted. Yeah, yeah. The local people here, The Ngati Tuwharetoa, they would have been equally as inspired and willing to protect their own land, right? That's right. And I guess that, kind of, explains why they chose to make the stand here. Mm. While the Ringatu dug themselves in, the government forces began arriving from all points of the compass ` Poverty Bay, Whanganui and Hawke's Bay, so Te Kooti deployed scouts to get a handle on the size of the army he'd be facing. Oh, we've got a problem. Yeah? Ooh! (LAUGHS) We can't cross there. We have to go further up. From his base at Te Porere, Te Kooti would have sent scouts all across the Volcanic Plateau looking for food, but most importantly, trying to find the location of any enemy forces. They would have travelled all along the plateau here across plenty of rivers, but there are a couple of differences between these ones and back in Tuhoe country. Unlike the sediment that ran through the hills there, these have come straight off the tops, so they're clear, and it can be a bit deceptive. They might be deeper and running a lot faster. This isn't possibly a typical place where you'd cross, but sometimes during war, doing the unexpected can be the safest option. But dodging a soldier's bullet can leave you at the mercy of Mother Nature. One slip, and you'd be whisked through rocky channels and down small waterfalls. And in this terrain, the chances of rescue are very slim. Ooh! Ooh! Oh, they're so slippery. So slippery. So slippery. Take a` Take a step. So slippery. Take a` Take a step. Yep. Oh, there's big boulders here. BOTH GROAN We need to head over there. Even shallow water is dangerous if it's flowing rapidly. The safest way for Kev and I to cross is to link arms and coordinate our movements. If there's one false step,... BOTH: Whoa! ...well, it just doesn't bear thinking about. You know, the kilt is good for a lot of things, but river crossings in cold water ` there's not a lot of protection. there's not a lot of protection. (LAUGHS) Hey, let's keep going. As the government mustered forces from the surrounding areas, Te Kooti had one small hope left of realising his dream of a sovereign Maori state. King Tawhiao hadn't completely dismissed an alliance with Te Kooti, and in fact, had sent one of his key advisors to accompany him back to Te Porere. What he was about to witness would set the course of NZ history. It's 15 months since Te Kooti escaped his exile on the Chatham Islands. Go easy` Whoa! Whoa! In his wake, a series of bloody battles and impossible vanishing acts through the most rugged and unforgiving terrain in the North Island. It's getting deep! Despite hundreds of government troops being mobilised to catch him, they've failed to close the net. But the hunt for one of NZ's most divisive figures is about to come to a head. Outnumbered by government forces almost three to one, he was completely surrounded. But Te Kooti had one last trick up his sleeve. With him was one of the Maori King's key advisors, Rewi Maniapoto. What he saw at the colonial forces forward base here at Poutu may have changed the path of NZ history. A group of Te Kooti's warriors attacked some Arawa troops who very quickly turned the tables on them and quickly and efficiently drove them back to their defensive lines. and quickly and efficiently drove them back to their defensive lines. Rewi Maniapoto wasn't impressed, and perhaps saw just how weak Te Kooti's position had become. He turned and left, taking with him the last chance of forging and alliance with the King, and the possibility of the King Country remaining an independent sovereign state. It didn't really bode well for him so close to a major battle, showing his troops up like this. No way. DRAMATIC MUSIC But Te Kooti's belief in his cause ran deep, and he moved his warriors into the trenches and prepared for battle. A defeat would be a major setback, perhaps even costing him his life, but a victory over the colonial forces would spur a great many people to take up arms behind him. We're here at the upper redoubt, and it's easy to see now why Te Kooti chose this as the location to go up against the largest-ever number to confront him. They would have been coming up from the basin below, so he could have seen them coming. But not only that; in the background was Mt Tongariro and also Mt Ngauruhoe. Now, at the time it was very much an active volcano, and out of the top of it was ash being spewed out in huge clouds. It was October 1869, and the region was experiencing its worst spring weather for years. A two-day snowstorm was now mixing with these ash clouds to create a nasty, black acid rain. Now, the government's forces, their battle plan was pretty simple ` advance en masse and overwhelm the defences. But there was one other thing that they had on their side, and that was that they could outnumber the people in here. So it wasn't long before the pa was overrun and 37 warriors were killed inside. Te Kooti himself had the two middle fingers of his left hand blown off. And yet, he managed to disguise and be shielded by a group of women, and somehow, again, he escaped. This defeat was to be the beginning of the end for Te Kooti. For the next two years, he and his dwindling band of followers were virtually refugees in their own lands. Gilbert Mair and the Arawa Flying Column remained determined pursuers, and the chase sprawled over hundreds of kilometres, from Matamata, Ohinemutu, Opotiki and back to the Urewera. Often forcing Tuhoe chiefs to act as guides, Mair and his men tracked, shot and killed many of Te Kooti's warriors. Te Kooti's habit of sleeping away from his camp saved him again, when Mair finally discovered his base in Waipaoa. He was almost killed, but another man intercepted the bullet, and Te Kooti fled naked into the bush. Now, many years before, Te Kooti had made the prophecy with these words. He said, 'Although you go in pursuit of me, you will not capture me.' And although he was pursued for many more years, he was never caught. On the 15th of May 1872, Te Kooti again entered the territory of the Maori King Tawhiao. This time however, he agreed to lay down arms and was granted sanctuary. There he lived for the next decade, spreading the Ringatu message, but remained an outspoken critic of the government. All right, so what do you think? Were these two guys ruthless killers or inspirational leaders? Yeah, it's all really hard to say. I mean, of all the stories that we've done, the events in this one have still the biggest impact now, even though it's 150 years afterwards. I guess it all began with some dodgy land confiscations. Yeah, I mean, throughout the journey, we've covered so much geography of the North Island, you know, and the events that took place, like at Matawhero, and then Ngatapa and Te Porere here. And it's how we've done it, as well, like, doing it on horseback,... Come on. ...and then through the canyons, and look at us ` we're a mess! ...and then through the canyons, and look at us ` we're a mess! I need to change my shirt. The thing I love about this one is that I've got more of an appreciation of what the Maori people feel about their land. The connection is just so strong, and it's like when this guy Te Kooti came along with his prophecies, you know, I just wonder if it was like a match being put to dynamite ` you know, something really bad was gonna explode. That's right. He had a lot of military successes early on, but not without some pretty grisly killings that took place at the same time. So when Gilbert Mair rocks up, you know, I bet he did see himself as a righteous avenger, to-to try and stop this ruthless killer. The thing I really love about these two guys is that despite all of the battles that they went through, and the risks that they put themselves through, is that both of them lived to a ripe old age and died peacefully. It's amazing, isn't it? Talking about getting peaceful, I think it's time to get out of these clothes. You could definitely do with a change of shirt. You could definitely do with a change of shirt. You need a pair of trousers. DRAMATIC STRING MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES SOFT PIANO MUSIC Captions by Alana Cruikshank. Edited by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2014