This is a small estuary, prolific with birds despite the close proximity of housing. The walk goes over a swing bridge and along the banks of the Waikanae River to the Waimanu Lagoons. There we were treated to a special sight, a white heron (kotuku) who lives at the lagoon. The bird is so rare that the Maori have a saying, “He Kotuku rerenga tahi,” “a Kotuku’s flight is seen but once.”
The beach is only a short walk from the lagoon, where we watched the sun set over Kapiti Island, 5 kms offshore.
Walk: Kapiti 33
History
Te Uruhi, a former pa site at Waikanae, was one of three ancient pa sites mentioned in the book ‘THE ART WORKMANSHIP OF THE MAORI RACE IN NEW ZEALAND,’ published in 1896. Elsdon Best wrote, “I have seen the remains of an old pa at Waikanae, called Te Uruhi, the fence of which has been a mile in circumference.”
Unfortunately the site would have been obliterated by developer’s bulldozers.
The Waitaha, first inhabitants
“Archaeological and ethnographical research suggests that Waikanae may have been first inhabited by the Waitaha moa-hunters as early as a thousand years ago.” The Waitaha people were replaced by successive waves of settlement of the Ngāti Apa, Rangitāne and Muaūpokoiwi (tribal groups).
In the 1820s the infamous Maori leader of Ngāti Toa, Te Rauparaha, moved into the area and based himself at Kapiti Island.
In this 1840s image of Te Rauparaha, he wears a feather in his hair and a pōhoi (feather-ball earring). Te Rauparaha is famous for the role he played during the musket wars.
In 1824, Waikanae Beach was the embarkation point for a force of 2,000 to 3,000 fighters from coastal iwi, who assembled with the intention of taking Kapiti Island from the Ngāti Toa led by Te Rauparaha. Crossing the strait in a fleet of waka canoes under shelter of darkness, the attackers were met and destroyed as they disembarked at the northern end of Kapiti Island.
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Te Āti Awa of Wellington
In the 1820s the Taranaki tribes iwi Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Maru Wharanui began moving to the Kapiti area after being driven south by Waikato tribes in the Maori Musket Wars. The tribes moved back to Taranaki in 1848 but some Atiawa iwi remained in the Kapiti area. Source: Te Āti Awa of Wellington
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The Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve
The Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve is a nationally–significant reserve located at the mouth of the Waikanae River. The reserve was established in 1987 to protect the large number of bird species that use the area.
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Thomas the goose
Here’s something funny and sweet – a local story about a goose called Thomas who lived at the Waimanu Lagoons from 1970 to 2018.
“Thomas had a relationship with a male black-feathered swan, Henry, for approximately 18 to 24 years until a female swan, Henrietta, joined them. Thomas initially attacked the pair, which included breaking two of the five eggs that Henrietta had laid. But once the remaining eggs had hatched, he became friendly and helped raise them. Henry could not fly because he had an injured wing, so Thomas helped teach the cygnets to fly.
Thomas was left alone when Henry died in 2009 and Henrietta flew away with another swan. Thomas later met a female goose and had his own offspring, for the first time, in 2011. The offspring were then taken by another goose. After going blind and getting attacked by swans, he was moved in 2013 to the Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust in Ohariu, and stayed there until his death in 2018. A plaque was placed at the lagoon to remember him.” Source: Wikipedia
The locals even had a funeral for him
Links
We stopped at the Southward Car Museum on the road to the Waikanae Estuary walk. It’s well worth a visit.
Te Ātiawa ki Kāpiti History : The earliest accounts of Te Ātiawa ki Kāpiti go back to the Kāhui Mounga Collective that had spread itself from Taranaki and the Central Plateau region through to Te Ūpoko o te Ika. During this time, further waves of migrations occurred.
Two of these migrations began with the arrival of the following waka to Taranaki; Te Kahutara, Taikōria and Okoki.
The names of these iwi were Te Tini-a-Taitāwaro, Te Tini-a-Pananehu, Tamaki, and Te Tini-o-Pohokura, names after four brothers who led their people to Aotearoa.
The Wairau Lagoon is a vast salt marsh of interlacing waterways covering an area of 2000 ha. It stretches from the mouth of the river to White Bluffs in the south.
The wreck of the SS Waverley was to be sunk at the mouth of the Wairau River to form a breakwater, but floodwaters swept it into the lagoons instead.
Wairau Bar, a gravel bar on Marlborough’s Cloudy Bay coastline where the Wairau River flows into the sea, is a place so historically significant that it is referred to as the birthplace of our nation.
Walk: Blenheim 11
The Moa Hunter Artifacts from Wairau Bar
The Wairau Bar is the site of ancient Moa hunter grave relics. It is said to be one of the oldest occupied sites of NZ.
In 1942 about 2000 artefacts and 44 human skeletons were removed and examined in detail. These early colonisers were tall compared to most Polynesians. The skeletons were all found in shallow graves, with the heads pointing towards the east and the feet to the west, as was the practice in eastern Polynesia.
Of the extinct birds found in the middens, there were at least six species of Moa, the flightless NZ swan, the NZ crow and the gigantic Haast eagle. Evidence suggests that over 8000 Moa were slaughtered and over 2000 eggs consumed.
Necklaces were found as well as adzes and Moa eggs. The necklaces consisting of cotton reel shaped pieces held together by cord in a style common to the Marquesas Islands. A similar necklace was found at Whitianga Pa in the Coromandel Peninsula of the North Island.
We are expected to believe that these Moa hunter remains date from the 13th century – see my page How NZ is ‘mythtaken’ over the year 1350 – and belong to the Rangitane tribe who came from the Heretaunga (Hastings) area. Rangitane travelled south and occupied Dannevirke, Wairarapa, Wellington, and Wairau in the South Island. They displaced the Ngati Mamoe who had in turn displaced the earlier Waitaha people.
The remains at Wairau Bar predate the arrival of Rangitane
Initially, in 1939 the Rangitane tribe who later settled the area were unaware of the site. “It’s nothing to do with us,”’ and ‘“he’s not one of us,” they truthfully asserted when they saw the remains.
Excavations of the site undertaken from the 1940s through the 1960s identified three distinct burial groups, from which 42 individual burials were identified. These human remains and many of the artifacts recovered from the site were held at the Canterbury Museum as part of its permanent collection until 2009, until they were repatriated to Wairau Bar and Rangitane. Nothing more can now be learned.
In 2003 Rangitane made formal claims to repatriate the remains through the Waitangi Tribunal, asserting “they had been stolen.”
The Ohaki Māori Advisory Board acknowledged the significance of Māori spiritual beliefs and their significance within their cultural history. It conceded that the remains predated the arrival of Rangitane, but recommended a scientific study be undertaken in consultation with Rangitane, a decision which the iwi criticised.
Rangitane eventually got the burial relics from the Canterbury Museum after a compromise was made between “obtaining scientific knowledge and ‘respecting the cultural integrity’ of the remains.” Source: Re-excavating Wairau: A study of New Zealand repatriation and the excavation of Wairau Bar, By Shaun Hickland
In other words the science and the cultural integrity of the artifacts is compromised. And this from a site referred to as “the birthplace of our nation.”
What the mitochondrial DNA research reveals
At least DNA testing was done on the skeletons.
The results from the sequencing of four human samples from the site were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in October 2012. The results revealed there was a greater level of genetic diversity than expected in the early settlers of New Zealand, compared to the uniform Polynesian DNA.
Mitochondrial DNA is only inherited through the mother’s side and can be used to trace maternal lineages and provide insights into ancient origins and migration routes. Lead author Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith said, “We found that three of the four individuals had no recent maternal ancestor in common, indicating that these pioneers were not simply from one tight-knit kin group, but instead included families that were not directly maternally related.
So different population groups once lived together peacefully and were buried in the same burial group with similar grave goods. The results, which run counter to the narrative, were published quietly and without fanfare. The Moa hunter people were probably the Waitaha, who lived peacefully in NZ before Ngati Mamoe and Rangitane.
19 kms of hand dug canals
In 1903 CW Adams surveyed Wairau Bar and noted the existence of 12-miles (19 kilometres) of hand-dug canals. These linked the waterways of the alluvial plain together, bringing abundant fish resources into the region, as well as enhancing gardening. Extensive canal building and intensive wetlands gardening went hand-in-hand in other parts of ancient New Zealand as well.
The south side of the Wairau River mouth was settled by Europeans in the 1840s, who set up a port to service Blenheim.
A pilot house was built in 1868 to guide ships across the bar. Today, it is the only pre-1900s building left in the area around the river mouth.
The southern end of Wairau Bar can be viewed from across the river, accessed by Wairau Bar Road.
My forefathers arrived from Scotland in 1840, and were among the first settlers in the area. All my grandmother could tell me was “some bad Maoris tried to kill is but some good Maoris saved us.” It’s probably an explanation given to her as a child. The family left the area after my Gran’s Great-Grandfather James Gilbert went missing, presumed drowned.
For more info see ‘James Gilbert’ in the links below.
Roadside Stories: Trouble at Tuamarina | Today a sleepy settlement between Picton and Blenheim, Tuamarina was the site of bloody conflict in June 1843. The New Zealand Company believed they had bought the Wairau plains – but Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha considered that the area had not been purchased. He evicted surveyors from the Wairau, and when a party of settlers arrived to arrest him, conflict broke out.
Cobb Cottage, Blenheim
This historic building from 1865 or earlier can be seen while driving to the walk.
Cob Cottage is located on State Highway 1 in Riverlands near Blenheim.
DNA: Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of the remains from the archaeological site of Wairau Bar was done and compared against Polynesian DNA. Polynesian DNA is uniform. The settlement of most of East Polynesia occurred rapidly, in the period from A.D. ∼1190–1290 which explains the uniformity of the Polynesian DNA.
The DNA from the Wairau Bar people was unexpectedly diverse. At least three of the four individuals sequenced from the Wairau Bar site were not recently maternally related. Burials 1 and 2.1 were recovered in the same burial group (Group 1) with similar grave goods, presumed to be of high status, yet these two individuals belonged to two different haplotypes. Source, NIH : Complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequences from the first New Zealanders
Marlborough historian Barry Holdaway releases book on Wairau Bar village | The Wairau Bar is a well-known archaeological site, but Holdaway focused on the early Pakeha involvement with the area, beginning with the Wairau Massacre in 1843 and following the settlement through to the 1860s.
James Gilbert, the Scottish tailor at Te Awaiti | “In some places the sun was penetrating the clouds. “Kei puta te Wairau.” (The sun always finds a hole to shine through at Wairau.) In spite of the threat of inter-tribal war, and the depopulation that had taken place in the previous twelve years; in spite of the fear of further fighting; in spite of the cosmopolitan population that arrived every whaling season and the prostitution of Maori women; in spite of the drunken habits of Europeans, the sun was shining through several holes in the clouds.
A handful of Maoris from the northern mission stations had created a thirst for knowledge of the Gospel; some well-disposed Europeans welcomed anything that would help in the cultural advancement of their Maori partners and half-caste children; here and there a European became a self-appointed religious teacher, as did the Scottish tailor at Te Awaiti.
These people were not a large group among the residents, both Maori and Pakeha, but they were enough to give a missionary some hope of success. This was the Cloudy Bay for which Samuel and Sarah Ironside were preparing to set out in December 1840, and in which they were to spend the next three years of their lives.” Samuel Ironside in New Zealand 1939-1858, page 110
There are four short walks around the North Egmont Visitor Centre.
The Nature Walk led on to the Ngatoro Loop Walk, a walk through sub-montane forest called “the Goblin Forest.” The ferns and mosses flourish because of the high rainfall.
Just behind the Visitor Centre is a historic camphouse, which was originally a military barracks during the land wars in the 1860s. It was moved to the site in the 1880s.
After lunch we did the Veronica Loop Track.
Before going uphill we passed the Ambury memorial, a memorial to climber Arthur Ambury who gave his life in 1918 in a heroic attempt to save his climbing partner.
The Veronica Loop track is a well-formed track. It goes up the mountain for half an hour and then there’s a junction for Holly Hut. The return walk via the loop track is harder.
Holly Hut Lookout
At the junction of the Holly Hut track, there’s a lookout ten minutes further up the mountain. We chose not to do it because of the lack of visibility.
There were no birds to be heard on either track, the forests were silent.
This historic pa site is located at Opunake. The walk begins at Opunake Cemetery.
Te Namu pa is the site of a battle between Taranaki and Waikato. After the defeat and scattering of the Taranaki tribe at Maru in 1826, a large number of them migrated to Kapiti. But still there were a few left—not more than one hundred and fifty fighting men—and these, on the news of the approach of Waikato, gathered into their fortified pa of Te Namu, and stored it with a plentiful supply of provisions and water. There they held off a force of 800 Waikato.
The principal chief of Taranaki, who was appointed to conduct the operations in defence of the pa, was Wi Kingi Mata-katea. There was only one musket in the pa, and that belonged to him. His aim never failed; a man fell each time he discharged his gun—even if half a mile off —so long as he could see his man, he shot him.
Mata means eye so Mata-katea’s name probably translates as having a keen or accurate eye.
Although the site has a rich history we felt there was more to learn.
Walk: Taranaki 12
Petroglyphs
The history of the pa as known to the writer (Griffin) including finding a partly buried stone on which there was a petroglyph. Who knows where that’s gone. There were petroglyphs along the Taranaki coast. The rock was probably marked by the Waitaha or Te Kahui Maunga people.
The Waitaha Pa is between Wanganui and the village of Upukongaro. Waitaha means “beside water,” like the bank of a river. It’s an ancient pa and the iwi (tribe) who lived here is not known.
The pa was in a good defensive position above the river. They could keep an eye on the river and they were able to grow food like kumara on the river flats.
Waitaha Pa, Whanganui River
I grew up in Okoia, the same area as Waitaha Pa and the farm I lived on was in a nearby valley. It was there that I found an adze of black rock, or rather, it found me. I wonder if it was from this pa. Okoia means to scrape or rasp.
I want to find out more about the people who lived here. Who were the Waitaha? Where did they go?
Walk: Wanganui 20
The spelling of Wanganui
Wanganui was renamed “Whanganui” by maori activists, against the wishes of the local people. The name Wanganui is actually a Waitaha name. There is also a place and a river named ‘Wanganui’ on the West coast of the South Island. The location is probably named by the same people. They did not use the ‘wh’ sound.
The Waitaha people
The Waitaha are an ancient tribe. Since visiting the pa site in 2020, I’ve done hours of research. To learn more go here:- The first people The research is ongoing as at 2025. I’ve been to Marlborough but have yet to investigate Waitaha sites in Nelson and Canterbury.
NZShortWalks 