Category: Patupaiarehe

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.

Hinerangi

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

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Related walk: Muriwai Lookout and Gannet Colony

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

Howarth Memorial Wetland, Te Aroha

Walk #144, 25th January 2025

This is a walk along the banks of the Waihou river in the delightful town of Te Aroha. The tree planting in the reserve is a bit chaotic with kahikatea, oaks, willows and other trees all scrambled in together but it’s a pleasant place. It was green and shady, all that is wanted on a hot summer’s day.

Don’t leave without going to the town domain.

Walk: Waikato 4

Te Aroha, Jan 2006

Te Aroha is an Edwardian spa town. The domain where the hot springs are was decked out in the fashion of the European Spas in the 1880’s, and it hasn’t changed.  It is a unique place, the only complete Edwardian Domain in New Zealand, and the site of the Mokena Geyser, a geyser of hot soda water … the only one of its kind in the world.

The geyser comes up from a depth of 70 meters and plays every 40 minutes.  It was named after the Maori chief, Mokena Te Hau, an early Christian convert who gifted the land to the town.  His memorial Cairn is next to the No.8 Drinking Fountain, where you can drink the soda water for free.

The water is nice to drink, naturally carbonated without the sugar or preservatives.  Coke’s not the real thing, THIS is the real thing.  The pools are nice too.

The word ‘Spa’ is an acronym for Salus per Aquam or healing through waters.

In order for this unique fountain to be found at the Spa, it needed two things – a gift to the people from a chief, and for the people who discovered the healing power of the water to have enough faith in it to dig a bore 70 meters down to find the well.

The geyser plays every 30 minutes. These are photos from a visit in 2006. This is our third visit to the area.

Related post: Salus per Aquam, Healing through waters

The meaning of the Te Aroha mountain peaks

The mountain has two names, one for each of its two peaks, ‘Te Aroha-ki uta’, and ‘Te
Aroha-a tai’, respectively meaning ‘love for the land’ and ‘love for the sea’. The names
originated in Hawaiki, the memory of which is fostered by Tainui, Arawa, and Mataatua
waka which all incorporate Te Aroha as part of their respective traditions.

Chief Mokena Te Hau, benefactor and peacemaker was of the Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu tribe.

The original inhabitants of the Aroha lands are believed to be the Tino-o-Toi. Various
tribes subsequently settled the area. According to Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu tradition, Te
Aroha is a dwelling place of the ‘patupaiarehe’ or ‘fairy people’. The mountain is
important in many stories, karakia (prayers), and waiata (songs).

Source: NGĀTI RĀHIRI TUMUTUMU Deed of Settlement

Mt Pirongia

Walk #139, 30th Sept 2024

This bush clad mountain is a familiar site when I’m travelling, but I’ve never stopped to explore this intriguing area until now. The book I had with me recommended a climb to the Ruapane lookout, but I decided to skip it in favour of two introductory walks, the Mangakara Nature walk and the Corcoran Road lookout leading to the Ruapane lookout.

I was fortunate to hear a Kokako at the Corcoran Road lookout. The birds have been reintroduced to the area by the Pirongia Te Aroaro o Kahu Restoration Society Inc in partnership with DOC. The pest control area is shown in the bottom right of the picture.

Also this mountain range has the tallest native tree in NZ.

Kaniwhaniwha: Kahikatea tree

I find this area intriguing as Mt Pirongia and Wairenga Reserve near Raglan are associated with the patupaiarehe, a white tribe the Maori saw as fairies because of their pale skin. They were said to have lived on Hihikiwi peak, a pyramid shaped peak on Mount Pirongia. The patupaiarehe also lived on Mount Ngongotaha in Rotorua, but moved west after they were accidentally or deliberately burned out by the Maori.

We stopped for lunch in a park at Pirongia and there in front of us were three pou dedicated to the patupaiarehe. There was also a large polished stone sculpture representing Pirongia Maunga (mountain) and the patupaiarehe children of the mist.

Patupaiarehe Pou, Pirongia “These are representative of patupaiarehe fairies that live on Pirongia Maunga. Te Ngahere Reserve.”
Rock representing
Pirongia Maunga (mountain) and the patupaiarehe children of the mist.

Links

Here’s an interesting video taken at Purekireki marae near Pirongia, where an elder of the Ngaati Taramatau hapu speaks of the patupaiarehe.

Patupaiarehe – Waka Huia explores the existence of the Mist people

He says (18.38) “there was speculation they were our ancestors.” I wouldn’t be surprised given their appearance, there are a few freckled faces and redheads surrounding him.

The true meaning of the name Pirongia-te-aroaro-o-Kahu is “the odour from Kahu’s nether regions.” It is explained between 10:39 and 11:46 of the video. Puawhea was the name given for Mt Pirongia by the Patupaiarehe.

The name of their god was Io Matuakore but his name was never mentioned. Uenuku was used instead. Uenuku is associated with the rainbow. Interestingly, for those who say the Moriori never were in NZ, the Moriori also have a god called Ouenuku.

Whanawhana

In 1894 Hoani Nahe, an elder of the Ngāti Maru people, recalled three sub-tribes of patupaiarehe: Ngāti Kura, Ngāti Korakorako, and Ngāti Tūrehu. Tahurangi, Whanawhana, and Nukupori were important chiefs. Source: TeAra.govt.nz

“It was Whanawhana’s ambition to want a relationship with Maori that he connected with Tawhaitu, the wife of Ruarangi. There was no negativity about these people …” (28.52)

Walk: Waikato 23

Related walks

Mount Ngongotaha, Rotorua

Wairenga, Bridal Veil Falls

Lake Ngaroto, Waikato

Links

MOUNT PIRONGIA (959 METRES) IS AN ANCIENT VOLCANO CENTRAL TO THE 17,000 HECTARE PIRONGIA FOREST PARK THAT, WITH ITS DRAMATIC SKYLINE, IS ONE OF THE MOST DISTINCTIVE FEATURES IN THE WAIKATO DISTRICT. Explore the Mountain

Mount Maunganui,Bay of Plenty

Walk #121, 25th April 2024

Mount Maunganui is a prominent Tauranga landmark rising 232 metres out of the sea at the entrance to Tauranga harbour.

The Patupairahe people gave the Mount the name ‘Mauao’ which means “caught by the dawn.”

Three pa sites have been found on the Mount. Ngati Ranginui held the Mount until around 1700 when they were defeated by Ngāi Te Rangi in the battle of Kokowai.

The Mount has been the site of many battles, the last being in 1820 when Ngapuhi, armed with muskets, took Mauao. The pa was never reoccupied.

This walk is around the track at the base of the Mount. We were running out of daylight so the top track will have to wait.

Walk: Bay of Plenty 6

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Related walk:

Waikareao Estuary Walkway, Tauranga

January 2026

In January 2026 a slip crashed into the campground at the base of the Mount in heavy rain, killing six people. The tracks on the Mount are new closed and an investigation is underway as to the cause of the tragedy. 

Ownership of the Mount was transferred to iwi (3 tribes) in 2008. It’s now jointly managed by iwi and the Tauranga City Council.

Little did I know about the removal of exotic oak pine and chestnut trees from the flanks of the Mount in 2023, on the orders of the council and iwi, for Māori spiritual and anti-colonial reasons. Native pohutukawa trees were also removed above the campground in 2017, because of myrtle rust concerns.

Climate alarmists tried to blame the slips on the rain, but Mauao suffered a much bigger soaking in 2005 than it did in 2026 but the hillside above the holiday camp did not give way.

Tellingly, photos of the slip reveal it began above the existing 2026 treeline, in exactly the area once covered by trees in 2005.

Geotechnical engineer Rod Kane, in a Facebook post, noted that tree roots left in the ground after chopping start to rot, and over time they allow water to surge into the rotting root cavities and sluice the hillside. It appears this may have been exactly what happened.

Links

The tragedy at the Mount

IAN WISHART: Are climate activists ignoring the evidence at Mt Maunganui?

Why Councils are Felling Non-Native Trees

Earlier history

The Battle of Kōkōwai

The walk features a rock named Te Toka a Tirikawa, a landing site associated with the Takitimu canoe.
(see our walk in Mahia)

The legend of Mauao

This artwork at Mt Maunganui public library depicts the story of the mountain Mauao (Mt Maunganui).

Mount Ngongotaha, Rotorua

Walk #86, 16th April 2022

There are two tracks, I recommend the nature trail.

The Jubilee track is straight up for an hour with no views. It was a nice walk with friends, great for my friend who wanted exercise, meh for me.

This walk had the most fungi I’ve seen anywhere.

At the start of the walk is a large rata, the only one in the reserve.

The Patupaiarahe

This mountain used to be the home of the ancient patupaiarehe. They weren’t fairies, some looked like Maori, some like Europeans.

The name Ngongotaha is derived from an encounter with them. It means to drink water from the calabash, which was offered to Ihenga (the grandson of Tamatekapua) by a patupaiarehe maiden when he was exploring the country around Rotorua. There’s no water up the top of the mountain and Ihenga was thirsty.

Normally the elusive patupaiarehe had no truck with Maori but Ihenga made friends with them and he eventually lived near the mountain on the banks of the Waitete Stream.

The patupaiarehe left the mountain and moved west after the Maori accidentally or deliberately burned them out.

Walk: Rotorua #23

Links

Mt Ngongotaha Jubilee Track

The Fairy Folk of Ngongotaha Mountain

“The name of that tribe of Patu-paiarehe was Ngati-Rua, and the chiefs of that tribe in the days of my ancestor Ihenga were Tuehu, Te Rangitamai, Tongakohu, and Rotokohu. The people were very numerous; there were a thousand or perhaps many more on Ngongotaha.

They were an iwi atua (a god-like race, a people of supernatural powers). In appearance some of them were very much like the Maori people of today; others resembled the pakeha race. The colour of most of them was kiri puwhero (reddish skins), and their hair had the red or golden tinge which we call uru-kehu.

Some had black eyes, some blue like fair-skinned Europeans. They were about the same height as ourselves. Some of their women were very beautiful, very fair of complexion, with shining fair hair.

They wore chiefly the flax garments called pakerangi, dyed a red colour; they also wore the rough mats pora and pureke. In disposition they were peaceful; they were not a war-loving, angry people.

Their food consisted of the products of the forest, and they also came down to this Lake Rotorua to catch inanga (whitebait.)

There was one curious characteristic of these Patu-paiarehe; they had a great dread of the steam that rose from cooked food. In the evenings, when the Maori people living at Te Raho-o-te-Rangipiere and other places near the fairy abodes opened their cooking-ovens, all the Patu-paiarehe retired to their houses immediately they saw the clouds of vapour rising, and shut themselves up; they were afraid of the mamaoa—the steam.

Chapter II, The Fairy Folk of Ngongotaha Mountain

Source: Victoria University Library, Title: Fairy Folk Tales of the Maori, Author: James Cowan

Story: Patupaiarehe : Mt Ngongotaha

Fairy Springs: so named because the Patupaiarehe would descend the slopes of Mount Ngongotaha to visit the springs at night and to drink from the waters.

Fairy Springs, Mitai Maori Village

Nearby Rainbow Springs: A rainbow would appear over the spring, therefore Rainbow Springs is another name given to this location.

Unfortunately the wildlife park that was here has been closed after 90 years of business – because of the Covid lockdowns.

Tokaanu

Walk 7: Tokaanu

15th October 2018

Tokaanu hot springs

Click here for the video

Tokaanu on the southwestern side of Lake Taupo, is near the small town of Turangi.

This short walk is next to the Tokaanu Hot pools, which I’ve found are well worth the visit after a day skiing on Mount Ruapehu.  The path at Tokaanu wends its way past steaming pools and boiling mud.

 

20181015_191815-1500

Walk: Turangi / Taupo 39

History of Tokaanu

Wikipedia: Before the development of Turangi in the 1960s, Tokaanu was the main settlement at the southern end of Lake Taupo. It had been known to Māori for centuries for its natural thermal pools. The pools became a major stopover on the Grand Tour stage coach run from Wanganui to Taupo in the 1800s. Passengers arrived by stage coach from Waiouru, and departed by steam launch from the historic Tokaanu wharf onwards to Taupo.

Trevor Hosking, archaeologist for the Tongariro Power Development 1966

In the 1960s the country needed more power and numerous schemes had been mooted.  The Tongariro Power Development was to be an important one which would involve thousands of acres of land as well as many rivers and tributaries in the area around the new town of Turangi and as far south as Waiouru.  The Ministry of Works was in charge of the scheme and wanted things to be done correctly, and it was decided that the Historic Places Trust would have the responsibility of making sure the development progressed without destroying areas of historic or archaeological interest.

The Trust wrote letters to the Tuwharetoa Board asking for permission to undertake the work and recommended archaeologist Trevor Hosking for the job.

A Museum Underfoot

The book ‘A Museum Underfoot’ was published on Hosking’s work.  On page 100, Hosking writes about his discovery of Ngati Hotu skulls:

Bones had turned up near the Tokaanu Stream.  Some eight feet of pumice had been removed before the bones were discovered.  The skull shapes were quite different and Trevor Hosking had access to the late Lesley G Adkins who provided him with his research papers on the Horowhenua burials and the types of skulls found in that area.

Adkin’s information tied in exactly with what Hosking had been turning up while working throughout the Turangi area.  The loader driver had unearthed the skulls of a very early, pre-Polynesian people.

In Taupo these early people are known as Ngati Hotu and Korako.  In Horowhenua they are Waitaha, down south Ngati Mamoe and so on.  In most cases their history is lost in the mists of time.  They didn’t survive the onslaught of the more warlike arrivals from the Eastern Pacific.

Turangi

The Ghost Museum