Thread: Intrepid NZ - First Crossings

Not a bad program, Next weeks show on hunters in the southern alps.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=550335195111995

First Crossings

First Crossings | TV ONE | Television New Zealand | Entertainment | TV One, TV2

Yep ill be glued to that one.....saying that, i haven't missed one yet, great stuff

great programme, especially as they are using old school gear from back in the day when those crossings were made.

It's a good programme , I like it.

8.30 Tonight Channel 1

i was really into this episode, until i saw the deer had ear tags.... now im not so convinced theyre doing it for real.

That was some great history tonight. Both were warriors till the end.

Agreed Dundee, I spent the next 12hr or more after tonights programme googling Te Kooti and Gilbert Mair.

Originally Posted by jakewire

Agreed Dundee, I spent the next 12hr or more after tonights programme googling Te Kooti and Gilbert Mair.

I must of had a time lapse that programme finished 1 hour ago and you have been googling for 12 hours? Mind due my son said something about the tags in the deer so is this a repeat?

Cool episode tonight something about the taller presenter is mildly annoying but I enjoyed it none the less.

Their muskets took a few baths..


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Originally Posted by Dougie

Cool episode tonight something about the taller presenter is mildly annoying but I enjoyed it none the less.

Their muskets took a few baths..


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Yes I looked forward to this program but I was disappointed as I know a lot of that Te Kooti country. All the random little bits of country they chose to film really did not give one a sense of the man or his thinking. Much of the film seemed to have been taken close to the road, like I recognised one scene in the Opepe reserve where they must have had to dampen out the traffic noise. I think I also recognised parts of the 6 foot track, Ruakitori River, Panakuri Bluffs.

But to give a real sense of that war or the grandeur of that country I would have liked to see them Film Te Kootis lookout on the confluence of the Te Hoe and Mohaka river where local lore says with a telescope he read the semaphore signals sent from Napier to Taupo and therefore managed to always stay one step ahead of his pursuers.

More time should have been spent on Mangapohatu Mountain and in the Whakatane River and less time in areas near the road or dragging their muskets through deep water. A fighting man who needed to fight at any second of the day would show far more care. He would need to draw the ball, flush out the powder and thoroughly dry out the whole weapon and reload before it was useable. That would only work if he had dry powder and caps.

Just some thoughts

Originally Posted by Dundee

I must of had a time lapse that programme finished 1 hour ago and you have been googling for 12 hours? Mind due my son said something about the tags in the deer so is this a repeat?

Yeah, missed the slash
1/2hr

Yeah. It was a bit too PC I thought. I spent a lot of time on deer surveys through the Urewera many years ago with the Forest Service. We came across old tracks and campsites from those pursuits including a beaut remnant of one of Von Tempsky's mercenary camps. Old iron cauldrons and stakes were still in place near the Waikare catchment. We also found several pigeon troughs , some on the ground and some up trees, but in most the side rails had gone.

Also did extensive work at Ngatapa on which land Te Kooti's lookout exists. The feature is massive and once had a rope bridge across a high ravine which was the final obstacle for any assault near the top. In recent years several artefacts belonging to Te Kooti and his followers were recovered by Maori elders from the location and relocated in a more secure place. In the old store at Ruatahuna, under the entry door there used to be several paua inlaid weapons including a tomahawk and old arabesque musket, sword and knife, said to have been some of the personal weapons once belonging to Te Kooti. I heard more recently that these weapons are secure in private possession. The history I have read of Te Kooti left me in no doubt he was a very savage warrior , no matter whether his enemy was Maori or pakeha. I have also visited the ridout near Taurewa and it is remarkably compact considering the numbers of people involved in that battle. Reading the history of the reverend Grace and how he and his family existed at Pukawa also throws quite a bit of light on Te Kooti and other warrior chiefs. Grace was very lucky to be rescued when a prisoner with Volkner at Opotiki, and Volkner's fate was extremely cruel at the hands of the HauHau. The turmoil that existed in New Zealand in those times between many factions, including between Maori / Maori, Maori/settlers, land thieves and Maori and settlers, government etc. must have made politics and communications and understanding very difficult indeed in those times and circumstances. The eventual moderators on both sides that brought peace deserve huge credit and I would have liked to hear more at the end of the TV program about the pardon issued Te Kooti and his reconciliation with Mair.

Anybody gone to see the new film, bugger me if I can remember it's title.. I went to see it on opening night, really enjoyed it.

The main character is the kid from Boy and the Vodafone ads.


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Dunno. I seldom go movies and my memory is probably a darned sight worse than yours as well