Above: Bert explaining how they flew over this when his father was a pilot for Volcanic Wunderflights.
A short walk through native bush leads to a cyan coloured lake framed by red and white cliffs. The lake occupies the crater of Maungakakaramea, Rainbow Mountain. It’s still geothermically active so ducks can swim at one end while water boils at the other.
This is the tribal region of the Ngati Tahu, Ngati Whaoa tribe. According to their tradition their ancestors Tahumatua and his descendant Whaoa arrived long before the so-called “great migration.” The summit and slopes of the mountain supported a large Whaoa Pa.
In modern times the area was used for experimental forestry. Up until the 1960’s half-Clydesdale horses moved the harvested timber by verbal commands, without reins.
Virginia Lake is Wanganui’s jewel, a really pretty lake on St John’s Hill. You’ll pass it if you’re heading west-northwest to Taranaki. It only takes about 45 minutes to walk around.
There’s also a bird aviary and the Winter Gardens, an art deco hot house. My favourite thing is the Higginbottom Fountain, installed in 1971, the year my family arrived in the Wanganui area. The copper fountain is in the shape of a lily. A 40-minute lighting display occurs every evening, coinciding with when the streetlights are switched on. The display can be activated at any other time by placing a gold coin into the slot.
The aquatic bird life is prolific, with lots of chicks to be seen on our walk.
The video features my young cousin, and a goose who remembered her from last time …
Virginia LakeThe Peter Pan statueThe Higginbottom fountain was modelled atfer the water lilyBy the gates, reminds me of Aslan
This is my first walk from Wanganui, my new / old hometown. Sadly we had to relocate and there will be no more Auckland / Northland walks for the forseeable future. We arrived back on the 7th November 2021, after enduring 82 days of lockdown in Auckland over one Covid case. Auckland is NZ’s largest city, and it’s still locked down, 112 days later.
There’s more freedom in the regions but discrimination as well.
I would have happily put a link for the cafe in the old caretaker’s cottage next to the Winter Gardens, but not after seeing their sign.
“Only Vaccinated Customers please”
I’m not able to go in. I’ve been having cancer treatment since November 2020, and for safety reasons have elected to wait until 2023 before even considering the so-called “vaccine.” So people like me are discriminated against.
We came back and had a picnic on the lawn in front of that cafe a few days later. I thought there’d be three friends but 30 people turned up. How much business are cafes like this going to lose?
Things are not going back to normal, but even if they did, I wouldn’t go back in there. I understand the cafes are between a rock and a hard place, but the sign excluding me was there before the 2nd December when NZ adopted the medical aparteid system.
We are also barred from DOC (Dept of Conservation) huts and camping sites. “For our health.”
You’ll hear us mention the NZ government on the walk. I wish the lion on the plinth at the gate would turn into Aslan and boot the witch out of Narnia.
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Note: the above cafe has appeared in the local paper since I wrote about this on the 7th December:
Owner of the Funky Duck Cafe Dave Hill said increased costs across the board alongside very low numbers of customers has them in a tough spot. Photo / Bevan Conley
There are some beautiful lakes in the Rotorua lakes district, and Lake Okareka is my favourite. This lake is in the same area as Lake Tarawera and the Blue and Green Lakes. I’ve canoed on it and ridden on the hills above. If you like bird watching there are lots of noisy water birds to see.
I like the Black Swans the most because they weren’t believed to exist. New Zealand’s Black swan was hunted to extinction by the Maori but black swans were brought over from Australia in the 1860s and there’s a population of approximately 50,000 today.
Patupaiarehe : The very rugged badlands of the central North Island became the sanctuary for early Patu-paiarehe tribes fleeing from the Eastern coastline of New Zealand over in the Hawkes Bay District or from the western coastline around Taranaki. The Ngati-Hotu of Hawkes Bay, first fled to the inland lakes. In the Rotorua District this included lakes Rotorua, Okataina, Okareka, Tikitapu, Tarawera, Rotomarama, Rerewhakaaitu, Rotoehu, and Rotama. The Patu-paiarehe tribes seemingly subsisted well in the district and their underground dwellings or other structures can be found throughout the area to this day. On the Western side of Lake Rotorua they occupied the high ground of Ngongataha. Source: Whakahoro
Lake Okareka : “Ōkareka means “the lake of sweet food”. In early times, Māori grew sweet potatoes or kumara around the outside of the lake.
Lake Hakanoa is in the Waikato town of Huntly. Before 1879 Huntly was called ‘Rahui Pokeka.’
During the 1850s the area was occupied by the Ngati Mahuta and Ngati Whawhakia tribes who lived peacefully until the lake got overfished. To put and end to the quarelling and to conserve the fish, the paramount chief Potatou Te Whero Whero imposed a ban on fishing, called a ‘rahui.’
Rahui
A rahui is a period of prohibition over an area by marking a Pu rahui – a carved stick with notches which was driven into the ground. A flax cloak called a ‘pokeka‘ marked where the stick was. At the time of each new moon the tohunga (priest) would change the Pu rahui one more notch until it was below ground level. That was the sign to the people that they were allowed to fish again.
While the rahui was in effect the lake was tapu, forbidden. Lake Hakanoa was named after the haka that was performed when the rahui was over and they could fish again. The ceremony to lift the tapu was called ‘Noa.’
The lake walkway is split into thirteen zones including a native tree reserve, Japanese Garden, Global Garden, Wildlife Gardens, Palm Beach, Contemporary Maori Garden, Green Cathedral, Ponga Grove, wetlands and more. It’s a nice, easy flat walk and you get a good view of the Huntly power station from the lake.
The walkway had the most one-note Tuis I’ve ever heard. You’ll hear them on the video.
There are two walks from the landing, the talk to the right takes you to the place where Green Lake flows into Lake Tarawera. The walk to the left takes you to Maori Rock paintings. The sign by the Tuhourangi iwi is very faded but this is what it says:
The rock art was restored by archeologist Trevor Hoskings. In 2009 Trevor Hosking, of Taupō, received the Queen’s Service Medal for services to the conservation of historic places. Mr Hosking had been actively involved in the restoration and protection of historic places in the Taupō area for more than 50 years. He worked to ensure the protection and restoration of local sites of significance, including the Armed Constabulary Hall, burial caves on Motutaiko Island, Rauhoata Cave, the Napier/Taupō Armed Constabulary Redoubts, the Te Porere Redoubt, the Tarawera rock drawings, and the Opepe Canoe. Source: Turangi Museum
The Tarawera rock art is mentioned in his book A Museum Underfoot, page 137-140.
Walk: Rotorua 28
Lake Tarawera
Links
Rock Art
Rock art in New Zealand is generally associated with the limestone shelters of the South Island, but already the New Zealand Archaeological Association lists 140 rock art sites in the North Island, most in the central plateau region … There are differences. The North Island has more carvings, the South Island more drawings. Abstract motifs dominate in the North, more figurative forms in the South.
And there are regional variations. In Tokoroa and Rotorua, drawings and carvings of waka are common—the best known being the vivid armada drawn in red on the edge of Lake Tarawera—while in Taranaki, the spiral, circles and other “classic” Maori motifs predominate.
The village of Te Wairoa was established in 1848 by Christian missionaries as a model village. It was buried in the 1886 eruption.
This stone pataka was one of the first structures to be excavated. It was discovered by Vi Smith, the landowner while they were having a picnic by the Te Wairoa stream.
Stone pataka at the Buried Village, Te Wairoa
The pataka is much older than the village structures and was probably built by the first people to live in the lakes area. See my post on Lake Okataiana.
There’s another stone pataka on the south-east shore of Green Lake, near the former village of Epiha.
From the boards: Okataina means the lake of laughter. It was an important link in pre-European times where canoes were carried from Tarawera to Okataina, and from Okataina to Rotoiti. Okataina road follows one of these ancient portage routes.
In 1823 Te Koutu Pa was attacked by Hongi Hika using a portage route.
Met at the Te Koutu pa site, Lake Okataina
The lake has no surface outlet – it drains by seepage through fissured lava towards Lake Tarawera which is about 20 metres lower in elevation. Because of this, the lake levels fluctuate dramatically with the rainfall.
In 1883 the area was covered in volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Tarawera.
There are small caves at the pa site. Tarawera ash has made it appear that caves were dug below ground level when in reality you had to step up to enter them. Some caves are characterised by a slightly domed ceiling. Some are L shaped with straight walls and a perfect gable ceiling, the outside is characterised by an extra recess for the door.
Ngati Tarawhai, a sub-tribe of Te Arawa are the principal iwi associated with the Okataina district. In 1921 they gifted the foreshores of Lake Okataina to the crown to be set aside as reserves.
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Toitu te whenua – leave the land undisturbed.
Walk: Rotorua 29
★★★★★
History
In previous times this area was settled by different iwi (tribes) who either pre-dated or derived from Te Arawa Waka. According to Ngati Tarawhai history, the first people to settle in the area was an iwi called Te Tini o Maruiwi (the myriads of Maruiwi.) They were followed by Te Tini o Ruatomore (the myriads of Ruatomore) who were to later adopt the name Ngati Kahupungapunga. Source: Lake Okataina Scenic Reserve history
The last stand of Ngāti Kahupungapunga was at Pohaturoa Rock.
THE MARUIWI FOLK OF THE BAY OF PLENTY DISTRICT: Volume 37 1928 > Volume 37, No. 146 > The Maruiwi folk of the Bay of Plenty District, by Elsdon Best, p 194-225
Lake Taupo is New Zealand’s largest lake. The whole basin is an old caldera. The last eruption around 180AD, believed to be the largest in recorded history, blew Taupo dust to Java. There are still active thermal areas, especially at Waireki in the northeast and Tokaanu in the southwest.
This walk is in sections: one from Taupo to Five Mile Bay, and another section from Wharewaka Point to Five Mile Bay, which I walked on New Year’s Day the year before.
The official walk begins in town where the lake empties into the Waikato river and goes for 7kms to Wharewaka Point.
Here are some of the Lake’s measurements:
Wharewaka Point
Wharewaka Point to 5 Mile Bay
I did this walk on 1st Jan 2018.
Taupo nui a Tia walk
This walk is from Wharewaka to the Yacht Club by the Waikato River. I did it with Meredith, Colleen and Lyn on Easter weekend 2021.
Walk: Taupo 36
Stone Alignments, Wharewaka
There were stone alignments at Waipoua Forest, Maunganui Bluff, Northland and Koru Pa, Taranaki. This appears to be another site. Many of the rocks are in an unnatural standing position. If these were boulders spewed-forth from a violently erupting volcano, then they would neither look so regularly shark’s-fin shaped nor would they sit so perfectly upright.
Fortunately these boulders haven’t been lost to the bulldozers, they are sitting in plain sight at the Lake Taupo Scenic lookout reserve.
Lake Taupo is named after the explorer Tia, a chief from the Arawa canoe. The full name of the lake is Te Taupō-nui-a-Tia. When the people of the Te Arawa landed at Maketū, Tia travelled up the Kaituna River to Rotorua. Tia continued west until he came to the Waikato River. He noted the murkiness of the water and reasoned that someone was ahead of him. This place was named Ātiamuri (Tia who follows behind). Determined to meet those responsible for the muddy water, Tia hurried after them. At a place near Wairākei he came to some river rapids whose tiered form fascinated him. Today they are called Aratiatia (the stairway of Tia). Journeying on to present-day Lake Taupō, he was disappointed to find a large tribe, *Ngāti Hotu, already living there.
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