Ohakiri Pā (St Paul’s Rock), Whangaroa

Standing tall above Whangaroa Harbour, Ohakiri Pā — once a fortified Māori stronghold — shares the landscape with the remnants of the Lane and Brown kauri timber mill that lies quietly in the foreground. Together they speak of two worlds shaped by the same land: one of ancient guardianship, the other of human enterprise and transformation.

In this painting, the artist draws a thread between endurance and change — between Ohakiri Pā, symbol of ancestral strength, and the abandoned mill, a relic of Aotearoa’s pioneering era. The stillness of the harbour reflects both histories — one carved in stone, the other in timber.

Here, nature gently reclaims what remains, weaving both pasts back into the embrace of Moana Whangaroa.