The first recorded game of cricket in New Zealand was played near this spot on December 20, 1832.
Information from historical documents - including the early jounals of missionary Rev Henry Williams, and a sketch map drawn by Edwin Fairburn who took part in that first game - places the match near Horotutu beach.
The game was an end of school treat, and was not a conventional eleven-a-side match. Instead it involved up to 50 children of all ages - a truly bi-cultural affair with families from the missionaries and Tai Tokerau rangatira taking part.