Maunganui Bluff

Walk #131, 4th May 2024

This was a solid grind where we had to climb 450 metres to the summit of the bluff. Getting over an old lava flow was interesting.

The view south along Ripiro Beach to Kai Iwi Lakes is worth the climb but I was hoping to see some standing stones that I know used to be on the summit. Waipoua and it’s stone ruins are just up the coast, less than 25 kms away.

Walk: Northland 27

Links

Stone structures

Alex Nathan is an elder from the local Te Roroa iwi (tribe) who have control or guardianship of the area including the Waipoua forest.

He speaks about Maunganui Bluff and goes on to mention the historical structural formations on the summit.

Alex Nathan: Taputapuātea on Maunganui Bluff

Nathan says; ” … our maunga (mountain), Maunganui Bluff is a place that we know as “Taputapuātea.” There’s very little of the original stonework still intact because during the second world war the American forces bulldozed the summit in order to establish a radar station. Today, all that remains of that facility are concrete foundations.

On the outer edges of the area that was bulldozed there are … in one place the remains of a stone facing and at the other edge, on the other side of that area is a stone alignment that is intact – and that’s all that remains of the original stone structures on that place.”

A listener asks, “So those stones that you are talking about, so they’re quite old, they were put there as (indiscernable) or they were created …”

“No, no, they are constructions, similar to some of the structures that we know about in Waipoua for example.”

-Note, I did a walk in Waipoua Forest in 2020 but I was not able to see the structures he was talking about. My research on the stone ruins is here.

It appears there are stone structures in the area from Maunganui Bluff to Waipoua Forest.

Waitapu Valley (Maunganui Bluff) NZ | astronomical observatory

Stone Cairns in the Waitapu Valley

This is from a book by a local man at Kaihu, “From the Sea we came.”

A SOLITARY CAIRN IN A FARM FIELD,IN THE WAITAPU VALLEY: NEAR THE MAUNGANUI BLUFF WAITAPU VALLEY ANCIENT STANDING STONE CIRCLES AND LAND MAPPING TRIG POSITIONS IN THE WAITAPU VALLEY OF NORTHLAND, AOTEA…That whole region, running from north of the Waipoua Forest Southward to Maunganui Bluff and beyond, is a very rich field of megalithic structures, which litter this Coastline in profusion. This is believed to be a purpose placed, very ancient surveying structure used for precisely marking a position. Many cairns like this, distributed over several square miles between the Maunganui Bluff and Waipoua, are not the result of modern farmers gathering together stones from the land and placing them in heaps.

Source: From the Sea we came, page 106, RIPIRO WEST COAST BETWEEN KAIPARA AND HOKIANGA

Click to access 1-from-the-sea-we-came.pdf

Buried items dug up at Maunganui Bluff

1894; RipiroCoast, North of Maunganui Bluff, about half way to Kawerua: Gum diggers find old relics at a depth of 7 to 9 feet deep. These included adzes and spears. For these to have been buried so deep they must have been owned by some ancient people. Who did they belong to?

Source: National Library: Gang of Dalmatian gum diggers draining the Aranga swamp, Maunganui Bluff, Northland. Creator of collection unknown: Photographs relating to Dalmatian gum diggers, life on the gumfields, and social events. Ref: PAColl-2144-2-03. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23109398

Waipoua Forest, Northland

St Pauls Rock, Whangaroa, Northland

Walk #126 1st May 2024

We walked up an old volcanic plug above the village of Whangaroa. A chain is needed near the top and we had to forego that part because of a shoulder injury. As you can see the view over Whangaroa harbour was still good.

Walk: Northland 6

Links:

Giants at Whangaroa

Here’s an interesting article from 13th October 1934 where the bones of giant men were found in a large cave at Whangaroa.

Newspaper article

Hongi Hika invaded Whangaroa in 1827. If you want to learn more about Hongi Hika and the start of the Musket Wars, I recommend these videos by Kiwi Codger.

Clevedon Scenic Reserve

Walk #123, 28th April 2024

We climbed a lot of steps for a view that’s okay but not stunning. The lookout platform is small and the trees are obscuring parts of the vista. The quarry at the bottom is lovely.

The elevation was 702 feet.

Most of the forest was Taraire / broadleaf which produces purple berries the native birds love.

The highlight of the walk was meeting firemen practising for the Sky Tower climb. One of them was wearing his yellow firefighters gear. I know we all appreciate those guys.

The track was busy, it’s a popular walk.

Walk: Auckland 43

Cape Palliser Lighthouse

Walk #119, 26th March 2024

A walk up some 250 steps to the Cape Palliser Lighthouse on the southernmost point of the North Island. The views are awesome but it was too cloudy to see the South Island on the day we visited.

The 5km stretch of road from Ngawi to Cape Palliser is interesting, there are two concrete fords to drive over. Also a seal colony which we didn’t see.

Stone walled gardens

There were stone walled gardens at Cape Palliser.

… Adkin (1955) drew attention to an apparently high density of settlement in eastern Palliser Bay and found artifacts of typical archaic forms, many of which ended up in private hands or in the Museum of New Zealand collection (Leach 1981). Four burials, one with a shark’s tooth necklace, were excavated at the mouth of the Pararaki River in the 1950s and 1960s (Davis 1959;Cairns 1971; Leach 1981; Walton 1994). Wellman (1962b) describes a wave-cut section about 3 km west of Cape Palliser lighthouse with moa bone (Euryapteryx geranoides) and oven stones near the top. … Source ResearchGate

The land may have been abandoned because of invasion, seismic activity or a tsunami in the 16th century or early 17th century.

Walk: Wairarapa 7

Links

Fur seals, crayfish and bulldozers: Off-the-beaten track in Cape Palliser

Cape Palliser

Cape Palliser 2017 by Drones Manawatu

Paritutu Rock, New Plymouth

#Walk 112, 1st January 2024

This 156 metre rock is the remains of a volcanic crater. From about half way up a chain has to be used to get to the top. The climb is worthwhile, there are 360 degree views from the top although Mount Taranaki was obscured by cloud on this occasion.

Walk: Taranaki 8

Links

Sugar loaf Islands and Paritutu Rock

Paritūtū: Sentry at Our Port

Mount Victoria Lookout Walk

Walk #111 15th November 2023

This walk features a Lord of the Rings location, where after leaving the Shire Frodo and Sam hide from the Nazgul under a bank on the road. The tree was artificial and the tree roots were props … so the real spot is a bit anti-climactic, but we took a cringey tourist photo anyway as we are fans of the Lord of the Rings.

Further on in the walk there are all sorts of interesting structures to play on based on native creatures, insects and fish.

When we reached the top of Mount Victoria we found the view was spectacular. We were fortunate the wind had died down so we were able to enjoy being there.

Walk: Wellington 22

Links

The Guide to The Lord of the Rings in Wellington

Tauturangi Walkway, Opape, Bay of Plenty

Walk #102, 9th January 2023

The walk is next to Opape Beach. It’s an old coach road. There are some nice views from the track but the land is neglected. It doesn’t look like the track is used much. The views would be better if they cleared away the gorse.

The track is a joint venture between Nga Tamahaua hapu, Opotiki District Council and Environment Bay of Plenty. Which to me means no-one’s in charge of looking after the land.

Walk: Bay of Plenty 21

History

Opape

Story: Te Whakatōhea

Opape was originally Opepe:

“At Ngai Tama we have a really important historical narrative about the people who were there previously and were the early settlers. They were called Pananehu. Many of the women at that time were tiny women with small cervixes. When they mated with the Pananehu who were the giant people as we refer to them, many of those children died in pregnancy because the women’s cervixes were too small. The original name of Opape was Opepe. The name commemorated this event. Ngai Tamahaua has a waiata entitled “Me Penei Ana.” The waiata is unique to the hapu. It memorialises the loss of the children. We’re the only ones who sing it on ceremonial occasions and at tangi.

Source: Treaty of Waitangi claim Wai 1750, #C39

Makorori Point, Wainui Beach, Gisborne

Walk #98, 7th January 2023

The track is off SH35at the north end of Wainui Beach, Gisborne, just as the road climbs uphill.

Unfortunately the weather was bad but the view was still good.

Wainui Beach looks great for swimming and surfing.

We stayed at Tatapouri Bay, the next bay along from Makorori Beach.

I bought a boogie board but never got to use it on any of the beaches.

SH35 was closed after we went through due to slips from cyclone Hale.

Walk: Gisborne 5

Te Pa o Kapo, Titahi Bay

Walk #83, 3rd March 2022

We stopped here to eat breakfast on our way home from Wellington after witnessing the end of the protest at Parliament Grounds. We felt shattered.

Eating our food, we watched a couple of divers enter the sparkling water. A man and his dog played fetch with a driftwood stick and two yachts sailed slowly by. In the calm and tranquil peace of the morning we realised life would go on.

This is a stunning part of the lower North Island west coast. Mana Island could be seen in the distance and beyond that, misty and barely disernable, the mountains of the South Island.

History

The place name means the Pa of Kapo. The tribe was Ngati Ira. Te Pa o Kapo may have been occupied for as long as 400 years, but when Te Rauparaha invaded the area in 1819-20 the pa had already been abandoned.

Ethnographer Elsdon Best (who was born at Tawa) visited the pa and was impressed by the superb defences. He noted that at the time the stumps of the totara pallisading were still visible.

I suspect the rock at the site may have been a tuahu. Each canoe and tribe had one, a sacred place marked by a stone.

A plaque in front of the stone reads, “This is the site of a fortified pa occupied by Ngati Ira prior to 1820. The defensive bank and artificially narrowed causeway were once clearly visible. Archaeological evidence suggests there was an extensive settlement in this area.”

Walk: Wellinton 13

Kupe’s anchor

It is said that Kupe’s anchor used to lie on the Porirua foreshore. This is the narrative or korero from the Te Ara Encyclopedia of NZ about Kupe’s anchor: “The Polynesian explorer, Kupe, visited this area and named Porirua Harbour, Mana Island and his landing place, Komanga Point, situated south of Titahi Bay. The anchor stone from Kupe’s canoe, Mātāwhaorua, rested for many years on what is now Ngati Toa Domain. It is now at Te Papa.”

Be aware, this is a classic example of revisionist history about canoes and dates of discovery. Te Ara are wrong on two counts; they haven’t mentioned there were two explorers named Kupe and they failed to point out the stone is actually local greywacke.

Here’s the stone which is NOT from Kupe’s canoe. It used to lie on the beach at Porirua.

Links

Titahi Bay

Porirua City

Ngati Ira: Intermarried with Ngati Tara. In 1819 a war party comprising Taranaki, Atiawa, Ngati Toa, Ngapuhi and Ngati Whatua attacked the Wellington area, destroying the main Ngati Ira fortifications. Most Ngati Ira fled to the Wairarapa where they still live today.

WELLINGTON’S TE ARA O NGA TUPUNA HERITAGE TRAIL

KUPE’S VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND: Kupe and his people discovered people at various places. These people were the Mamoe, the Turehu, the Tahurangi, the Poke-pokewai, the Patupaiarehe, the Turepe and the Hamoamoa. “Such is the story as told me by my elder Tati Wharekawa.”

The Land of Tara and they who settled it, by Elsdon Best : The story of the occupation of Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara (the great harbour of Tara) or Port Nicholson by the Maori.

Tawa Historical Society: PORIRUA – AND THEY WHO SETTLED IT by Elsdon Best

Shakespear Regional Park

Walk 72, 25th September 2021

This is a beautiful farm park at the end of Whangaparoa peninsula. It has everything – native bush full of native birds, a waterfall, views, a farm, beaches and a camping area. A pest proof fence has been constructed since our last visit in 2010.