Te Koutu Lake, or ‘Lake Te Koo Utu” is located in the town of Cambridge. The name of the lake loosely translates as ‘to scoop up water.’ The trees and gardens were established in the 1880s. There are two tracks, the upper track leads to a rotunda, recreation area and conservatory while the lower track goes around the lake.
The lake was formed indirectly from the last major eruption of Lake Taupo around 1800 years ago, when tonnes of debris swept down the Waikato River and blocked off many side streams. Here, water backed up behind the debris dam and formed this small lake.
In the 1880s the Cambridge Domain Board took responsibility for the area. Gradually they converted the gorse and manuka covered land into a park filled with chestnuts, elms and gum trees. Carp and catfish were let loose in the lake and white swans were released too but failed to establish.
It’s a good place to break the journey between Auckland and Rotorua. The best times to visit would be May when the trees are turning red and golden, our walk on April 9th was a bit early for that. The other time is summer when the water lilies are out.
Murphy’s Bush in the Auckland suburb of Flatbush at 26 hectares is the largest remaining lowland bush remnant in Auckland. The forest used to have fields all around it until a population the size of my city got jammed into the area.
The reserve is now an oasis in a featureless desert of high density housing. It would be interesting to see who stayed after the bulldozers razed the original houses. Apart from the bush and the old Flatbush School Hall, the area has been completely transformed, in accordance with the neo-liberal “new Auckland plan.” The culture and character of the original community has been lost.
I am glad Murphys Bush is protected. The forest was preserved and gifted to the Manukau City Council in 1981 by the Murphy family. The reserve is divided by a road, most is on the left of Murphy’s Road. It’s a haven for birds and for people who want a quiet place to walk.
What I did notice in this tiny bush remnant was the bird noise. We could hear the native birds, unlike the silent forests managed by DOC. Unlike other countries, DOC uses cruel 1080 poison for pest control, killing the birds along with the predators. We’ve noted the difference on our walks.
As one of Auckland’s newest housing areas, Flat Bush complies with the aims of the new Auckland Plan which calls for more medium and high density housing. As a result, the area is taking on an “exciting but very different look” from the traditional quarter acre pavlova paradise of old New Zealand. East Auckland Tourism
Stancombe Cottage The small heritage cottage was moved from its site next to the Buddhist temple on Stancombe Road in 2011 and restored by Howick Local Board for community use. Stancombe Cottage
2016 “A concrete carpet is being rolled over the former paddocks of Flat Bush, in Auckland’s south east. The city has spread to make room for its growing population and as newcomers – many from China and India – moved to Flat Bush en mass, original dwellers have had to adapt or abscond. Most lifestyle blocks on its urban fringe have already been snapped up by local and Chinese property developers, who have granted temporary leases to residents before bulldozers take over.” Stuff: Flat Bush: Auckland’s big new town In the article one of the original residents, an elderly man named Elton asked neighbours to help with the search for his dog Sophie, “but not one of them spoke English.”
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.
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.
This white statue is a major landmark on the old SH1 road to Wellington. It’s been there all my life. We finally stopped to take a look after being at Queen Elizabeth 2 Park nearby. It was built in 1958. I think it’s New Zealand’s only religious shrine.
While it’s winter time I’m posting some walks we did years ago. The walks on this page were at Russell / Kororareka in the Bay of Islands. We’ve been to Russell twice, the first time was in early spring of 2011 when we took the ferry across from Paihia. The second visit was in the late winter of 2015, and this time I walked from Okiato near the car ferry at Opua. Despite the lawlessness of the area, for a short time in 1845 Okiato was the site of NZ’s first capital.
Russell began life as Kororareka, and it was a wild town full of whalers, grog shops, brothels and a Maori Pa belonging to Ngapuhi chief Hone Heke.
Tensions grew between the Maori and the British over the imposition of duties and tarrifs. Inspired by talk of revolution by the Americans, in 1844 Hone hacked down a flag pole he’d formerly given the British. When it was replaced in 1845 he cut it down again and actually flew the US flag from his waka (canoe).
To provide further context to the issue, according to the 19th century Pakeha Maori F.E. Maning (see links below) the Maoris associated the British flag with the lack of trade and high-prices. When the duties and tarrifs came off after the first flagpole was chopped down, it resulted in goods becoming affordable again. In the Maori mind, stopping the British flag from flying solved the problem.
The fourth time the flagpole was erected in 1845, the lower portion was clad in iron, but that did not stop Hone from cutting it down yet again – and to follow it up he sacked the town, burning down many buildings including the Duke of Marlborough Hotel.
The Duke of Marlborough Hotel was quickly rebuilt after being burned down and the establishment has been running ever since. We had lunch in the historic dining room overlooking the waterfront during our week’s stay at Okiato in 2015.
Christ Church is the oldest surviving church in NZ. It actually has bullet holes from the Battle of Kororareka. Hone Heke told his warriors to leave the church standing but its old timbers still bear the scars from the battle. It has a historic graveyard that we walked through. Among the graves in the churchyard are those of Tamati Waka Nene (a Ngapuhi chief largely responsible for the Maori’s acceptance of the Treaty of Waitangi and who fought for the settlers against Hone Heke), members of the Clendon family (James R Clendon was the first honorary United States Consul), and the men from the HMS Hazard who fell in the battle.
We went to a church service on the Sunday we were there in the winter of 2015. That was special. There was no minister, the parishioners kept the church running by themselves. After qualifiying for a degree in theology from an institution in Melbourne they all took turns at preaching. The hymns were played by MP3 through a sound system. We were impressed at their commitment and quiet ‘can do’ attitude. I met a great-granddaughter of Hone Heke at that church, she was a very elegant and well spoken woman.
On our first trip to Russell in 2011 we visited Flagstaff Hill. We strolled along the historic waterfront and then climbed the path through regenerating bush to the hill overlooking the town. A new flagstaff was erected in 1857 as an act of reconciliation by those involved in cutting down the old flagpole and it still stands today.
Back then on our first visit we were more interested in the panoramic views of Russell, Paihia, Waitangi and the islands of the Bay. Our interest in NZ history came from later walks.
Walk 4th August 2015
This was the walk from Okiato to Russell / Kororareka I did in 2015. The exercise was ruined after eating and drinking decadent chocolate at the Newport Chocolate shop in Russell. The chocolate was worth every calorie!
Orongo Bay on the walk impressed me the most, with its mangrove boardwalk and Mt Tikitikioure, a small mount rising 180m above the bay. The hill once belonged to a local chief named Ure and it meant ‘Ure’s top-knot. The Maori people there used a blue pigment found deep in the mountain for painting their faces. It turned out be be manganese which was mined until 1887.
Old New Zealand: A Tale of the Good Old Times by Frederick Edward Maning. This book written by Maning, a Pakeha Maori, gives an insight into the time surrounding the war against Hone Heke in 1845. After the battle the maori were plundering the town “because they believed the fight was over, and the people were only quietly plundering the town which had been left for them, and which they had given fair payment for.”
That custom was called ‘muru,’ to plunder, confiscate, take ritual compensation – an effective form of social control, restorative justice and redistribution of wealth among relatives. The process involved taking all the offending party’s goods. The party that had the muru performed on them did not respond by seeking utu.
“At last, all the town people and soldiers went on board the ships, and then the ship of war fired at the Maori people who were plundering in the town. The noise of the firing of the ship guns was very great, and some of Kawiti’s people were near being hit by the lumps of iron. This was not right, for the fight was over … so in revenge they burnt Kororareka, and there was nothing left but ashes ; and this was the beginning of the war.”
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.
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).
This walk was done in two parts over four years. We were visiting Rawene in the Hokianga harbour while holidaying in 2020 between lockdowns and just before my cancer treatment. Unfortunately the Mangrove board walk closed for maintenance. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get there again, but we made it back in 2024 just before sunset.
The video above shows the town, historic buildings, spoonbills feeding in the estuary, and a cat in the shop which is next to the post office boxes. I recommend the Boatshed cafe.
Rawene townshipWhite-fronted terns and gullJane and James ClendonClendon House
The video below features the Te Ara Manawa Walkway, and a cat. The cats at Rawene are very welcoming.
Te Ara means a path and manawa is the Maori word for mangrove.
Walk: Northland 21
Links
The Clendon Papers have been included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand programme that recognises significant documentary heritage. Much of the nationally significant collection is still housed at Clendon House in Rawene, Northland.
Captain Cook’s landing place is next to a busy port. I found it disappointing.
The first thing I saw and read about coming onto the reserve were gourds. Gourds? What did that even mean? I found the site to be culturally incoherent.
The gourds are supposed to commemorate Maori canoes. According to tradition it’s been a converging site for many waka (canoes) arriving from east Polynesia. Two of the ancestors were Maia and Matuatonga, both were tohungas (priests) who occupied different banks of the river.
I’ve never heard of them. The Polynesian explorers should be remembered, but they didn’t put NZ on the map like Captain Cook did. The park has some interesting features but apart from the old monument there’s not much of Captain Cook or the Endeavour here. It’s sad because I remember how we all happily celebrated the Cook bi-centennial in 1969, but when it came time to commemorate the 250th anniversary in 2019 the mood was sour.
In 1769 conflict arose when the crew of the Endeavour went ashore. Cook was eager to make friendly contact with local Māori but in a series of unfortunate encounters several Māori were killed or wounded, and the incident hasn’t been forgotten.
It appears Cook wasn’t happy about it either;
The following day Cook took his leave and the Endeavour headed south. Initially, Cook had planned to call the bay he landed in Endeavour Bay, but instead, he renamed Tūranganui-a-Kīwa to Poverty Bay “because it afforded us no one thing we wanted”.
Instead of celebrating the arrival of Captain Cook, in 2019 the Ikaroa sculpture was added, a commemoration of the navigator Māia. Behind this are nine pou/poles, erected in remembrance of the Māori killed during Cook’s encounter. Nearby are the three oversized hue/gourds.
Banks Garden
The garden exhibits some of the plants native to the area which were recorded by Joseph Banks, the botanist on the Endeavour. Some of the plants in the garden were Tutu, Kawakawa,Rangiora, and Mahoe (Whiteywood).
Kaiti Hill
I found the Cook Landing Reserve underwhelming. I always try and understand a site we visit, especially when it is historic, but I didn’t feel like we were informed here. Would I visit the site again? Meh.
Crossing the road we climbed Kaiti Hill. The first monument we came to was Maia carrying a gourd.
The next monument was further up the hill, a forgotten World War 1 monument which we had to get to through long grass.
We joined a tree-lined road which winds its way up the hill which I remembered from visits when I was young. There wasn’t much at the top of the hill and the weather wasn’t good. It’s not the place I remembered.
Walking up the hill I was joined by a local with some Maori blood. He told me that when Cook arrived in 1769 the tribes lived in so much hostility to each other it wasn’t safe for anyone to cross the river.
Gisborne in 1982
There used to be a monument to Captain Cook with the place he named “Young Nick’s Head” in the distance. It turned out the statue wasn’t of Captain Cook but an Italian admiral. Anyway he’s gone now and the top of Kaiti Hill looks bare without him.
Walk: Gisborne 6
Links
The Cook 250th anniversary in 2019 wasn’t celebrated in NZ and here’s why.
This is the baleful tone in NZ today from the academics and news media:
What really happened here? Older accounts are better given the revisionist’s agenda. This is written by the late Bishop W. Williams, for the Transactions of the N.Z. Institute – for you to read and make up your own mind.
And here’s a look at early Gisborne. Three generations of my mother’s family came from here but I have no feeling of belonging. It’s not a town where I’d want to live.
Gisborne in 1870
John Walsh, my Great-great Grandfather settled in Matawhero, Gisborne in 1881 after leaving the Armed Constabulary, where he’d served since 1870.
He said,
“White sand, little grass and much tree were the most prominent feares of Gisborne’s landscape some ty-six years ago, according to Mr John Walsh, of Mangapapa, who first viewed the town at that stage of its existence.”
This is a video of my home town with it’s Victorian buildings. I took it on a quiet Saturday of Queens Birthday Weekend.
The walk begins at Taupo Quay, Moutoua Gardens, crosses Ridway Street, skirts Queens Park, goes through Majestic Square and crosses the main street, Victoria Ave and then crosses St Hill Street to Cooks Gardens.
From Cooks Gardens I try to give you a view of Mount Ruapehu.
We walked back home via the lift which I couldn’t show you because my camera ran out of room, but here’s the Durie Hill elevator.
Below are some photos of downtown Wanganui.
Moutoua GardensCooks GardensVictoria Ave, I once worked in this building
NZShortWalks 