PERIA SUNRISE

The road I live on near Matamata, leads to the remains of an old Maori village named Peria. The village was named after BEREA , an ancient city which stood on the slopes of Mt Olympus.
It was established by Wiremu Tamihana, the Ngati Haua and Tainui chief who helped build the Maori King Movement. Tamihana founded Peria in 1846 to show that it was possible to blend technology, religion and cash economy which the Eoropeans had brought to New Zealand with traditional Maori culture.A meeting house sat about 1 km from my house ringed by Whare (houses) belonging to different tribes if the Ngati Haua.
It is now the area in the vicinity Of the Hobbiton movie Set, Where Peter Jackson's movies about Lord of the Rings and The Hobbits were filmed. Sadly the area is better known as a tourist destination for Tolkien fans and even locals are not well educated in its amazing history involving Maori/Pakeha land wars .