Hamilton when they met death at the shores of Rotomā. The event was well covered by newspapers of the time and was referred to as the "Rotoma Tragedy". Olsen and Moors are buried next to each other in the Rotorua Cemetery, and their graves were probably originally marked with wooden crosses. The original crosses disintegrated over time leaving the two graves unmarked for many years before being remarked with new matching wooden crosses in May 2011. Sunken island Four buoys in the southern portion of Lake Rotomā mark the location of Motutara, the sunken island, which sits just under the lakes surface. Occasionally the lake level drops low enough to expose the top of the island. There was once a Māori village on the island, and according to the legend, an old Tohunga resided there amongst the other inhabitants. His name was Te Rarau-mai-Waho, and he was very powerful and dangerous. The cloud the old Tohunga cast over the island was lifted only on the occasions where he went to visit some of his relations in Kawerau and around Putauaki, Mount Edgecumbe. One night he returned from such a visit and called out to the people of the island from the lake's edge by Matahi lagoon, ordering them to send him a canoe. Nobody responded to his demands, and in his anger the Tohunga put a curse on the island and its inhabitants. The people of the island heard the angry Tohunga's terrible screams, but did not realise the horrible retribution he would take. The curse caused the island to slowly sink, and by morning it was completely underwater; the only signs of the village being bodies and pieces of wreckage floating on the surface of the lake. Some people had escaped by swimming to the shore of the lake, and these people eventually settled in the South Island. The Waikato Underwater Club has examined Motutara. Two platforms or terraces were found, and some hāngi stones were found at the peak. It has been suggested that if the Pā had been palisaded it may have still been there today. Settlement The 2006 census revealed that 1,863 people usually live in the wider Rotomā area; 0.7 percent of Bay of Plenty Region's population. However, the lakeside portion of the Rotomā area has a much smaller permanent population, as many of the dwellings are used only as holiday homes. The most common