Photo: John WHERE KUPE LANDED Looking out from the jetty at Opononi, over the Hokianga Harbour, one can see the place where the Northland people believe Kupe landed (the bay showing behind the jetty post). Traditional stories of the visit of Kupe say that the sand dunes of Hokianga Harbour were covered with dense kauri forest, and when Kupe departed a fire was left burning as a beacon, to show the navigators where to find Hokianga Harbour again. When the canoe returned, however, the forest had been burned down, and now only the charred remains of a kauri forest can be found among the dunes facing the Harbour.