Simister says they went from “Harry on the West Coast to Fred on the East Coast, and they all sort of remembered kunes but... hadn’t seen them for ages”. “There was always someone up the road who they thought would be able to help, so we just kept looking and driving and finally found a few.” The pigs were found in isolated areas where there were populations of Māori. It was the tangata whenua in the backblocks of places like Taranaki, King Country and Waikato who turned out to be the greatest source of information.

Willis agrees, saying, “Europeans didn’t know about them. You could call in and see a pig farmer, and he wouldn’t have a clue what you were talking about. Call in at a country pub to talk to some Māori shearers, and they knew about them”.

“It was getting the trust of Māori and listening to what they had to say. They’d say they didn’t have any for sale, but we’d spend some time having cups of tea and even work with them, and on they way out they might give us one or two.”

Therefore, he searched and searched for the New Zealand pigs called KuneKunes with extraordinarily little success. Likewise, his first break came with a phone call from a guy named Weasel, saying he had purchased a pair for him for $3.00 each. On the other hand, when he arrived, the only resemblance to KuneKunes was their wattles.  One had 2 wattles and one had 1 wattle.  Finally, he took them so as not to hurt the man’s feelings.    

After that, the next stop was at Charlie Marshall’s, and he had more from the same litter as Weasel.  Michael and John both bought 2 pigs each for $10 for the two.  In fact, some were missing wattles, some had wattles, and some only had 1 wattle.  

At the same time, the next help came from Timi Kereopa, known as Kelly.   After many stops at many Māori homes, finally they found some KuneKunes.  The family told him they were down at the riverbed and if they could catch them, they could help themselves.  However, they found a sow with about ten piglets of various ages.  Indeed, they were able to gather some up, but the book does not mention how many they got.  It is important to note, they do mention they suspect they are not purebred. 

Also, at the next stop, they were extremely pleased when they found two New Zealand pigs, KuneKunes, that looked just like the description he had originally been told.  The Māori people they met would not accept payment for them but generously gave them the pigs.  

Along with this trip, the next pig would come from a man named Paddy.  The boar did not look purebred but was different from the others that they had so far.  Then they got a big sow from another gentleman who said she was as close to being a purebred as they came.  Later, through several different contacts, they came upon a man named Ru Kotaha who had some KuneKunes with wattles and just as described to him.   Furthermore, he gave them a pair after hearing their story about their search for KuneKunes and refused to take money.  At this point, they had thirteen pigs. 

In fact, another Māori family got a beautiful sow and boar and paid $150 for the pair.  Finally, their next stop would take them to John Wilson near Ōtorohanga. A Pākehā trapper, he had spent years collecting kunekune.