Nga Taupuwae O Toi: Kaputerangi / Toi’s Pa

Walk #196,
First attempt: 10th January 2023
Second attempt: 30th July 2026

The Nga Tapuwae o Toi trail means the Footsteps of Toi, named after the Māori chief who ruled the area around 800 years ago.

After two attempts to find this section of the walk from Seaview Road in Whakatane, we gave up and drove there.

The walk can be started at Pohaturoa Rock where a vertigraph – a series of steps with art and different sayings – goes up the hill. It’s not as interesting when you get to the site of the old redoubt or the old pa site at Puketapu at the top of the hill at Seaview Road – there’s nothing to see there, but at least the grass is mowed on Puketapu.

I have yet to find the walk from Seaview Road to Toi’s Pa / Kaputerangi. I must have missed the entrance to the walk off the street. We were running out of time so we didn’t look hard enough.

The view from Toi’s Pa / Kaputerangi is fabulous. You can see for miles. White Island is south-east, north-east is Whale Island, Whakatane and the river and north-west is Mount Edgecombe.

A friendly fantail accompanied us around the site. I’ve never had one come that close, it was most insistent it be noticed. The Maori name for fantail is Tiwakawaka.

I believe this is one of New Zealand’s oldest pa sites. Apparently Kaputerangi means the “Pa of Gentle Breezes”, but a friend from the Ngati Porou tribe tells me Kaputerangi was a giant.

Walk: Bay of Plenty 13

Whakatane

Nga Tapuwae o Toi Fairbrother Loop Track

Links

Kāpū-te-rangi (Pā of Toi)

Te Ara Story: First peoples in Māori tradition |Toi’s pā, Kaputerangi

These are the instructions from Whakatane, according to DOC:
Mokorua Gorge to Toi Pā
Time: 1 hr 30 min

Easy walking. This is the best starting point for the round trip. Walkers should head north from Mokorua Gorge along Commerce Street, turning right just before Pohatoroa (the Rock) to climb the escarpment steps leading to Hillcrest Road. Turn left onto Seaview Road to find the track leading to Kapu-te-rangi.

Soon after leaving the road, the track passes the head of Wairere Falls. After climbing through an area of attractive regenerating bush, Kapu-te-rangi is on the right. From this pā, continue north-east, the track follows the cliff top above Whakatāne, skirting a number of pā sites. Toward the tip of Kohi Point, the track emerges onto an area of low scrub and flax land and then follows the cliff tops to the south-east. Superb coastal vies are obtained throughout this section, but for your safety please stay to the track.
Source: DOC, Ngā Tapuwae o Toi Walkway

Nga Tapuwae o Toi Fairbrother Loop Track

Walk #195, 30th July 2026

This is a pohutukawa forest at Ohope where kiwi are thriving. There are views out to White Island along the track.

The track forms part of the larger Nga Tapuwae O Toi track which goes from Whakatane to Ohope.

Walk: Bay of Plenty 14

Related walk:

Tauwhare Pa, Ohope

Te Ahua Point, Piha, Auckland

Walk #192 8th April 2026

The lookout is situated between Karekare and Piha beaches. The views weren’t great, we couldn’t see Lion Rock because cyclone Vaianu was on its way from Fiji.

We didn’t realise at first we were walking on a pa site related to the ancient Turehu. The inhabitants of this ancient pa lived on the cliffs either from fear of people or fear of a tsunami.

The full name of Te Ahua Point is ‘Te Ahua O Hinerangi.’ Hinerangi was a Turehu ancestress. A pou (carved pole) dedicated to a descendant of the same name looks out toward the Tasman Sea. This Hinerangi died of a broken heart after losing her husband to a rogue wave while fishing on the rocks at Piha.

The info board maintains the site was one of those chosen by the ancestors of Te Kawau a Maki who lived here for its position and proximity to Hikurangi. Hikurangi was the name given to the main mountainous range that formed part of Te Wao nui a Tiwa, the great forest of Tiriwa. Tiriwa was the chief of the Waitakere Turehu.

The ancestors of Te Kawau a Maki are the Turehu, a pre-Maori people. Their hair colours ranged from white and dull-golden, with red being predominant in the general population. There were also shades of brown through to black. Braided samples of this multi-coloured hair (taken from the Waitakere rock shelters) used to be on display at Auckland War Memorial Museum and were written about by Maori Historian, Sir Peter Buck.

There is more about the Turehu here, under the heading ‘Waitakere Turehu, Auckland‘ …

The Pre Waka Peoples, Patupaiarehe and Turehu

There is a radar station at the site. In 1948 two pioneering radio astronomers determined for the first time the source of radio waves from outside the solar system. The radio signals were identified as coming from three stars, Taurus-A, Centaurus-A and Virgo-A. Taurus-A is the remnant of the famous Crab Nebula, a super nova in the constellation of Taurus which exploded in 1054 AD.

Walk: Auckland 21

Links

Clues about the ancient inhabitants of Te Ahua Pa

Te Kawerau

About 15 years before Captain James Cook arrived, Ngati Whatua took over the Tamaki isthmus by warfare (note: Maori land ownership kept changing as tribes grew stronger) and yet even then, the Kawerau in the Waitakere’s were still recognised as the iwi whenua of the Waitakere when others such as the Maruiwi and Waiohua became extinct or absorbed into Ngati-Whatua, (In effect, they became the same as Maori absorbed into European bloodlines today – if you think about it!). The remnants of the Kawerau lived in Mahurangi and Omaha after these times. Source: The Kawerau

“Te Kawerau ā Maki are a West Auckland-based iwi. Our origins arise through whakapapa to the first human inhabitants of the land – the Tūrehu, and descent from the early migratory people to settle the region, such as the Tini ō Maruiwi and Te Tini ō Toi, to the arrival of the Tainui, Aotea, Moekakara, Tokomaru, Kahuitara, and Kurahaupo canoes in the 14th century, and the Ngati Awa, Ngāoho, and Ngāiwi people who occupied the wider area prior to 1600.” Source: Te Kawerau a Maki

Matiatia Historic Reserve, Waiheke Island

Walk #191, 5th April 2026

The walk begins to the north of the ferry terminal at Matiatia. The first ten minutes of the walk is along the beach and it’s best to go either side of low tide.

The picturesque views include Rangitoto Island and downtown Auckland. The track passes some of the island’s most expensive houses with their manicured gardens and sculptures. There’s an interesting dog made of timber at Cable Bay.

It’s a slog up a lot of steps at Cable Bay until you get to Delamore Drive. The road has a gate which you pass through and after that a long track downhill track leads back to the ferry terminal at Matiatia.

Walk: Waiheke 50

Links

History of Waiheke Island

Mr. George Graham tells the story of Waiheke Island. The ancient Maori name of Waiheke was Te Motu-arai-roa {the long sheltering island), because it acted as a break-wind or shelter against the open ocean storms and winds of the outer Hauraki Gulf. The name Waiheke (cascade waters) was the name of a creek on the Onetangi (murmuring sands) beach, and formerly a favourite landing place. In pioneering days that became a general name for the island itself.

The earliest inhabitants were the Maruiwi, a people from the Western Pacific, who settled here about 950 A.D. The local tribe of that people were the UriKaraka (descendants of Karaka, a Maruiwi ancestor). These people are traditionally remembered as expert makers of nets and as fishermen. They fought with the kopere (throwing spear), and fearlessly navigated these waters in frail catamarans or rafts (mokihi) of interlaced flax stalks and raupo leaves. Their sails were of the same materials. They seemed to have been a numerous and industrious people cultivating only the hue or gourd, which they are said to have introduced into this country.

Toi found the Maruiwi very numerous and not too friendly. He at last sailed away and settled at Whakatane, which was his objective. Some of his crew settled down, intermarrying with the Maruiwi. About 1200 A.D. a party of Toi’s people, with their chief, Maeaea, accepted an invitation to a Maruiwi feast at Omaru (near Awaawaroa). There they were murdered, the victims being enmeshed in hand nets and then speared to death, that being the Maruiwi method of attack. Hence the name of that locality is still Te Rore-a-Maeaea (the snaring of Maeaea). This incident led to a punitive campaign against the Maruiwi tribe at Waiheke, who were conquered, a remnant only being spared as wives or as slaves.

The Maruiwi were replaced by the people of Toi, who were replaced by the people of Arawa, who were replaced by the people of Maki. Then came Ngati Whatua, and Ngati-Huarere. The owners of Waiheke, who remained such until European times, were of the tribe of Paoa.

Source: New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19779, 28 October 1927, Page 13

New Plymouth Coastal walkway

Walk #186, 21st February 2026

The 7km long walk goes from the port to the estuary of the Waiwhakaiho River. We started at the other end, next to the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge because I wanted to get that perfect shot of the bridge and Mount Taranaki. It was too cloudy for that in the early afternoon, so we walked as far as the Fitzroy Beach reserve. We didn’t have time to go any further.

We’ve done the walk from the other end on a blustery day with friends in 2017.

We returned at 6pm for the sunset shot and this time it was perfect.

Mount Taranaki can be seen on a clear day, usually in the evening, from the hill where I live in Wanganui, see below.

The walk was busy at times with cyclists who I can’t always hear on the path, but because of that awesome bridge I rate it as a solid four. The bridge was opened in 2010 and is part of the northern extension to the Coastal Walkway, connecting New Plymouth with Bell Block.

Walk: Taranaki 6

Related walk with the history of the area:
Pukekura Park / Brooklands Park, New Plymouth

Mount Taranaki taken at sunset from Wanganui, Oct 2023

Waikareao Estuary Walkway, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty

Walk #181, 20th December 2025

Walk: Bay of Plenty 7

We did part of the 9km long estuary walkway, from McCardle Reserve to the Esplanade Reserve. It’s a flat, easy walk but stick to the left and watch out for cyclists.

History

The area forms part of my childhood memories from when I stayed with my mother’s family in Tauranga in the 1960s and early to mid 1970s. The area has changed quite a lot since then.

They lived in a large house on the hill at 31 Chapel Street which overlooked the estuary. It was situated next to the Mission House, which in those days ran a farm and had milking cows and animals which were kept on what is now the Domain.

My grandfather owned two boats, which I don’t remember because it was before my time. He built a small jetty just below the Domain where the boat was moored.

My mother is in black togs seated next to my grandfather who is standing in the water. My great-Grandfather is the one wearing a hat at the other end of the boat.

Pre-european history

The earliest people known to have lived in the Tauranga area are the Purukupenga, whose name alone survives, and the Ngamarama, who inhabited all the land from the sea to the Kaimai ranges.

So numerous were these people that when the Tainui canoe passed through the Tauranga harbour, she made only a brief stay.

An anchor stone was found on the foreshore directly below the old Otumoetai Pa. The pa originally belonged to the Ngamarama people. They were replaced by Ngati Ranginui and then later by Ngaiterangi. The latter were in control of the Tauranga district when the missionaries and traders arrived in the early 19th century. As the largest pa in the district it was referred to by missionaries as “the capital of Tauranga.”
Source: Tauranga Heritage Collection

A second carved mahe (Māori anchor/sinker stone) found in the Tauranga Harbour by a fisherman in 2005. Image: Tauranga Heritage Collection.

Related walk:

Mount Maunganui,Bay of Plenty

Links

Waikareao Estuary Walkway

Otumoetai Pa

He Toto: Te Ahu Matua a ngā Tūpuna
Tauranga City Libraries
Description: Ancestral history, stories, and whakapapa of various whānau, hapū, and iwi of Tauranga Moana. Researched and written by John Steedman.

Hot Water Beach, Kawhia

Walk #177, 18th November 2025

This was an unusual walk, we made our way over a big sand dune to a hot water beach near Kawhia, which also goes by the name of ‘Te Puia,’ meaning ‘hot springs’.

The hot spots are directly out from the main track down the dune. As you can see this hot water beach is less crowded than the more popular and well-known beach at Hahei, Coromandel.

You have to go two hours either side of low tide. The hot water is found by digging into the sand with your toes. We found a warm spot and my husband Bert dug a hole for us to soak in with his father’s US army issue spade. As he dug I could smell the sulphur. The hole that I’d already claimed had water that was a bit hotter.

Unfortunately it started to rain, but we were already wet anyway and the wind wasn’t cold.

I recommend the walk for its sheer novelty value.

Walk: Waikato 7

History of Kawhia

Te Rauparaha

Descended from the giant Raukawa who’d leaped the Waikato River at Cambridge, Te Rauparaha had moved south from Kawhia in the Waikato during the Maori Musket Wars. He was known as a ‘Maori Napolean.’ Unlike his ancestor, Te Rauparaha was short, but he was known to have six toes on one of his feet.

Te Ara: The Maori leader responsible for the greatest slaughter in the early nineteenth century was undoubtedly Te Rauparaha, a chief of the Ngati Toa tribe of the Kawhia district.

The Ngāti Toa chief’s name is a taunt to an enemy Waikato chief who, when he was an infant, threatened to kill him and roast him with edible rauparaha leaves. Kāwhia-based Te Rauparaha (? -1849) led Ngāti Toa in a lengthy war with the Waikato tribes before defeat forced his tribe out of the area.
Te Rauparaha

…

The giant Kawharu: Kawharu was a man of Herculean stature and strength. A rock fully 12ft high’ on the Aotea beach still bears his name, on the top of which this Goliath is said to have rested his chin while awaiting the approach (at a later dateThe Ngāti Toa chief’s name is a taunt to an enemy Waikato chief who, when he was an infant, threatened to kill him and roast him with edible rauparaha leaves. Kāwhia-based Te Rauparaha (? -1849) led Ngāti Toa in a lengthy war with the Waikato tribes before defeat forced his tribe out of the area.) of a hostile force coming from Kawhia to attack him.
Pas of the Past

…

When the people of Tainui made their first landing at Kawhia, they found there tribes of tangata-whenua who, states White, were known as Ngati Hikawai and Te Upokotioa. The newcomers appear to have encountered no serious opposition from these people, of whom, unfortunately, we know so little. Later on, however, we know that they were attacked, most of the men being killed while the women became slave-wives to the Tainui men.

Title: Tainui : the story of Hoturoa and his descendants, Author: Kelly, Leslie G. (Leslie George),
Published: Polynesian Society, Wellington, N.Z., 1949

Horoure Pa, Aotea, Waikato

Walk #176, 17th November 2025

This old pa site at Aotea Harbour was right at the doorstep of the place where we stayed for two nights. The harbour in front of the pa was named after the Aotea canoe which is said to have arrived around 1300.

The Tainui canoe arrived about 50 years later and the people from that canoe settled at nearby Kawhia, just down the coast. The Tainui and Aotea tribes lived in harmony until the 1600s when battles started because the Kawhia people were expanding.

The two tribes united when their rohe (area) came under attack around 1800 from inland Tainui. The defeated people fled south to take refuge in pa still controlled by Te Rauparaha, trekking to Taranaki and then on to Horowhenua.

For a long time after their defeat this pa site was left empty, until the defeat of Waikato by Ngapuhi at Matakitahi in 1826 when survivors from that conflict settled here.

The book said it was an easy climb to the top – no it wasn’t. The long grass came half way up my body and it was impossible walking through it. Plus there was some dead gorse in the midst of the vegetation. I did not want to disappear into an old kumera pit so I called it a day and came back down.

The pa site is not a “wahi tapu,” a sacred locality like part of the foreshore – but when I gained the ridge I felt I shouldn’t be up there.

Walk: 26 Waikato and King Country

History

Links

King Country places

Queen Elizabeth II Park, Paraparaumu, Kapiti Coast

Walk #173, 18th October 2025

Queen Elizabeth park is on the Kapiiti Coast between Raumati Beach and Paekakariki. We parked at the Wellington Tramways Museum at MacKays crossing and took a historic tram to the start of the walk at Whareroa Beach. It was a different and fun way of starting the walk. The tram runs on the weekend.

The central car park at Whareroa Beach is the start point for two loop tracks, one north to Raumati Beach and the other south to Paekakariki. Both have seaward tracks that follow the dunes. We kept to the inland track which is more sheltered from the westerly wind.

Walk: Kapiti 36

Links

Wellington Tramway Museum

Queen Elizabeth Park

History

The name Paraparaumu is from an early foray of the Musket Wars.
RNZ Nau Mai Town – Paraparaumu

The greater Wellington Regional Council gives the history of Queen Elizabeth Park here:
Queen Elizabeth Park Resource Statement

I have some family links with the area from the 1800’s.
History of the Howell family (my paternal Grandmother’s relatives)

From the 1850s, several Pakeha families came into the Whareroa/Paekakariki area to
farm the land which included areas currently within the Queen Elizabeth Park. From 1860, John Telford established a sheep farm know as ‘Wharemako’ and this extended around and south of current-day Raumati and presumably included the northern part of the park

In August 1879, William Bentinck Howell leased much of this land off Telford for £100 per annum for 10 years. The 1,335-acre run carried 800 sheep. In 1884 Howell agreed to buy another 600 acres or so, on deferred payment, with the result that he then held an approximately 2,000 acre farm that extended all the way down to Whareroa Stream. Howell continued leasing and acquired a right of purchase of the whole farm by the late 1880s. He began draining the swamps in between the sandhills and establishing pasture.

Howell Road, Paraparaumu Beach

Named after the Howell family, early settlers. William Bentinck Howell (named after the ship he was born on the way to NZ) settled in Wharemaku, a homestead next to the Wharemauku stream in 1879. This house was demolished in about 1949. The site is now 41 Alexander Road.
Source: Kapiti Historical Society – Street names and early dwellings Project

*My grandmother’s grandfather and brothers*

Long Bay Regional Park, Auckland

Walk #172, 21st September 2025

This seaside reserve, half an hour from Auckland includes a kilometre-long sandy beach and a coastal marine reserve. Green hillsides provide a buffer from the neighbouring suburbs and pohutukawas flank the beach along the length of the bay.

The parkland continues north of the beach for about two kilometres before turning inland along the Okura river.

Vaughan homestead, the original farm homestead has been restored and is open for visitors.

Walk: Auckland 4

Related walk: Okura Bush and Dacre Cottage

Links

Long Bay Regional Park