On a stormy wind swept day, I headed underground...exploring the old tunnels of the North Head barracks set up in the 1800s when there was a fear of a Russian attack on Auckland. During WWI & II the fear switched to another foreign invasion and on the 13th of March 1942 a patrolling Japanese submarine (I-26) was seen in the Hauraki Gulf just off Auckland.
Maungauika (North Head's Maori name) is considered a taonga with many special connections for the tangata whenua who have a spiritual, cultural and historical relationship with their taonga.
There's something quite magical about exploring tunnels, even when they represent fear and war of days already past. Emerging out, to views of the Hauraki Gulf in the east and the city to the west, and the mighty Rangitoto volcano rising out of the sea. Simply breath taking.
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