Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has praised the special nature of Māhia, in Hawke's Bay, while attending the Tuia 250 commemorations today.
While speaking during the closing ceremony at Tuahuru Marae, Ms Ardern took a moment to thank locals for their warm welcome, calling it her "adopted home".
"Many of you may know that Mokotahi Hill is the place where Clarke proposed to me," she said, referring to her Easter Weekend engagement to partner Clarke Gayford.
"The wedding may never happen, but at least it was here where the commitment to one day be married was made," she joked.
"Clarke tells me that he planned for a long time to ask, but he would only ask here, in Māhia, because it was so special to him and his whānau."
Mr Gayford proposed with his grandmother's ring, Ms Ardern previously revealed.
Ms Ardern is in Māhia for the Tuia 250 voyage, which is wrapping up.
The flotilla's most controversial ship, a replica of James Cook's Endeavour, headed back to Australia earlier this month.
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