The track to Orokawa Bay starts at the northern end of Waihi Beach. Orokawa Bay is a perfect, unspoilt beach overhung by ancient Pohutukawa trees. A side track leads up to the 28m high William Wright Falls (30 minutes return) which we didn’t have time for.
The coastal stretch from Orokawa Bay to Homunga Bay is worth doing but we didn’t have time for that either, it would have been four hours return. The walk there and back to Waihi Beach was about 90 minutes.
There are two old pa sites in the area. Neither pa is named nor is there any signage. The area was devastated by Ngapuhi raids in the Maori Musket Wars. By the time the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, few Maori remained.
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is an ancient volcano in the central Waikato. It’s the largest predator-fenced eco-sanctuary in the world.
The mountain has been recognised as a reserve since 1912. In 2001, the community came together to form the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust (MEIT) with the goal to restore and protect Maungatautari’s ecosystem. In 2002, the fence build got under way and by 2004 all mammals were eradicated from the initial two enclosures. The mountain is now completely enclosed by a pest-proof fence.
The Northern Enclosure
Our walk was through the Northern enclosure. We didn’t hear any birds, they are spread out over 3400 hectares and the forest is very old and tall. The only native bird we did see was a Kingfisher (Kotare) sitting on a fence post on our way in.
Kingfisher or Kotare
You have to park your car at the Maungatautiri Marae and walk for about 45 minutes to get to the actual walk, and the last part is steep. There’s a rope to help you up if needed. The walk inside the enclosure is about 35 minutes. So budget about two hours of time for the walk including the ‘there and back.’
History
The area has a long history of settlement. The first inhabitants, the indigenous Ngāti Kahupungapunga people, were annihilated by the Maori Raukawa tribe before the 16th century. The Tainui tribes Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Hauā and Ngāti Korokī still own lands on the slopes.
“We are the largest predator-fenced eco-sanctuary in the world. A little fun fact: We are as big as Uluru in Australia and 10 times the size of Central Park [in New York],” SMM general manager Helen Hughes said.
Over the years, Maungatautari has become a sanctuary for endangered birds, native wildlife and plants.
Ngati Kahupungapunga | Some 400 years ago, they occupied all of the valley of the Waikato from Huntly to Taupo and Rotorua. They had many settlements along the Waikato River, including Karapiro.
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.
We walked to this lovely beach from the holiday house we were staying at, in Ngakuta Bay, five winding kms from Picton on Queen Charlotte Drive. Later we went for a walk in the hills behind the beach to get a different view of Grove Arm in Queen Charlotte Sound.
Looking down Mahou Sound from Cullen PointLooking across Pelorus Sound to Havelock
There are three main sounds in the Marlborough Sounds, Queen Charlotte Sound, Pelorus Sound and Kenepuru Sound. This walk leads to viewpoints across Pelorus Sound to Havelock and down another sound, Mahou Sound.
The walk is on the winding road between the towns of Havelock and Picton.
Walk: Havelock 14
The Waitaha in Pelorus Sound
There is a place named Waitaha over the stream from Bythell’s Bay, between Ngakuta Bay where we stayed, and Momorangi Bay.
Waitaha established communities across Nelson–Marlborough and are believed to have been the first to quarry the argillite (sedimentary rock) in the eastern ranges of Nelson. Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
I had read there was a large pa at Pelorus Sound.
The following is from the book “The Art Workmanship of the Maori race in New Zealand, page 126:
“Several interesting papers have been written describing ancient earthworks in the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand, and a large number of pits, terraces, and traces of ancient cultivations covering large areas have been discovered. These earthworks do not, however, seem to have been for defensive purposes like those forming the citadels of the Northern tribes.
Wakefield mentions seeing the remains of a large pa covering 10 or 15 acres near where the “Pelorus” anchored in a bay on the east side of the Sound, now known as Pelorus Sound.”
Wakefield, ” Adventures in N.Z.,” p. 123.
J.Rutland, ” Traces of Ancient Human Occupation in the Pelorus District,” Journ. Pol. Soc, Vol. iii., and also ” On the Ancient Pit Dwellings of the Pelorus District,” Journ. Pol. Soc, Vol. vi., p. 77. Wakefield, “Adventures in N.Z., 1845,” p. 56
Pelorus Bridge, at the junction of the Rai and Pelorous Rivers, is a small island of native bush which escaped the axe because a town was planned for the site. It was soon recognised as a beauty spot and in 1912 it became a scenic reserve.
The site was used as a film location for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Sceenit: Pelorus River The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
The juction of the Pelorus and Rai rivers was an old Maori trail. There had been a small kainga (village) in the area which was abandoned during the bitter fighting of the Maori Musket Wars. By the time Europeans arrived the area was largely uninhabited.
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 ancient pa was a familiar sight in my childhood, when every other week we’d go past, crossing the Tutaekuri River on our way to the Hawkes Bay Milk Co-op. I remember the pa being a bare hill with deep defensive scarps and a quarry at the bottom. The lower part was almost quarried away. The site became a reserve in 1972, the year after I left. The site looks different now with the trees and pallisading.
The Otatara Pa reserve encompasses two pa, the upper level is Hikurangi Pa, the lower one marked by the pallisades is Otatara Pa proper. The pallisades had been erected in 1990 by the Maoris at Waiohiki to make it look more like a pa from the 1800s, to provide “an interpretation of the defensive structure.” The Ngāti Paarau of Waiohiki Marae are now the site’s guardians.
The pa site from the road, 2006The back of the pa site, 2025Family visit 2006
Waiohiki Marae is just across the bridge over the Tutaekuri River. Otatara pa didn’t belong to that tribe as they were never able to take it, so their ancestors settled in Waiohiki Pa on the other side of the river instead.
A brief history of the area is on the boards as you enter Otatara Pa. The wave pattern on the entrance carving depicts the migration of groups to Otatara over a long period of time.
As a child I didn’t realise how how much land (33 hectares) the pa site covered. Now I’ve learned it was one of the largest and most significant archaeological landscapes in NZ. In keeping with today’s ‘right-think’, the timeline at the entrance only goes back to the 1500s with the descendants of Awanuiarangi, the eponymous ancestor of Te Ātiawa (see below).
Also mentioned on the timeline is “Te Tini” which would be the people of Toi. Toi (an explorer from around 1150 AD) is widely acknowledged as the principal ancestor of many North Island tribes.
There is more information on the board displaying these artifacts: “The people who lived in the pa were descendants of Awanuiarangi. They were known through the generations as Te Tini o Awa, Ngati Kouapari and Ngati Mamoe (or Whatumamoe). Ngati Ira also lived on this pa. Te Tini o Awa (descendants of Awanuiarangi) also lived at Heipipi Pa at Bayview.”
The Ngāti Māmoe were one of the original people groups on the Heretaunga Plains (see the links below) but they were driven south by the Ngati Kahungunu who are now the dominant tribe in Hawkes Bay.
Artifacts from the info board at the entrance
Number 2 and 3 of the above artifacts look pre-Maori. Ngati Mamoe from the info board were settled in the land before the explorer Kupe. (Note, there are two Kupes.) Before them were the Maruiwi.
Otatara Pa at Taradale and Heipipi Pa at Bayview, Napier were once on the shores of the Ahuriri lagoon until the land lifted after the Napier Earthquake in 1931. Our farm was once on the edge of this lagoon. The neighbouring farm was Park Island, so-called because it used to be an island, and beyond was the Napier Harbour Board Farm. The Harbour Board got the land from the sea after the Napier earthquake.
As well as being a historic site the views over Taradale and Hawkes Bay are just beautiful.
Walk: Hawkes Bay 31
Links
DOC, Otatara Pa Historic Reserve – A series of tribal groups (iwi) once occupied these sites: Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whatumāmoa, Rangitāne, and (most recently) Ngāti Kahungunu. All have distinct perspectives on events. Elders say that a chief named Koaupari built the original Ōtātara Pā.
Ngati-ti-Koaupari were exterminated at Mohaka, Hawkes Bay. [See “the end of this people“ Journal Polynesian Society, Vol. XV., p. 25.]
Early Māori History of Napier
Tribal traditions, whakapapa and archaeological evidence all indicate many centuries of Māori occupation in Ahuriri (Napier), centrally located within the wider area of Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay). Te Matau-a-Māui translates to the ‘fish hook of Māui’ and is an allegorical reference to the legendary explorer and ancestor Māui who fished up Te Ika-a-Maui (the North Island).
Early Māori tribes in the region descended from Māui and down through Toi-kai-rākau, and included Ngāti Hotu, Ngāti Mahu and Whatumamoa. When Ngāti Kahungunu arrived in the region in the sixteenth century, Whatumamoa, Rangitāne, Ngāti Awa and elements of Ngāti Tara were living in Pētane, Te Whanganui-a-Orotū (the Napier Inner Harbour, also known as Ahuriri Harbour) and Waiohiki. These groups are all ancestors of the current hapū within Te Matau-a-Māui.
Ngāti Kahungunu became the dominant tribal group in the region through both warfare and strategic marriage though large numbers left the area in the 1820s due to armed raids from both the west and north, and most sought refuge at Māhia. They started ‘filtering back’ to Ahuriri-Heretaunga in the 1830s and 1840s with the Treaty of Waitangi providing the prospect of ‘being able to return to their ancestral lands in peace’.
Te Awanuiarangi is recognised as the founding ancestor of Te Āti Awa. According to Te Āti Awa traditions, he was the product of a union between Rongoueroa and Tamarau, a spirit ancestor. Awanuiarangi is also an ancestor of Ngāti Awa in the Bay of Plenty. However, while Ngāti Awa trace their ancestry to the Mataatuacanoe, some Te Āti Awa trace their origins to the Tokomaru canoe whilst others remember the connection to the Kaahui people or the people that walked here before the floods (?)
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. They lived on the fronds and berries of the trees, and the roots of the earth.
Source: Volume 28 1919 > Volume 28, No. 110 > The account of Kupe and Tainui, by George Graham, p 111-116
Kāti Māmoe (also spelled Ngāti Māmoe) were originally from the Heretaunga Plains of Hawke’s Bay. Early migration stories say the Ngāti Mamoe were forced out of their home in the Heretaunga, and took refuge in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) with the permission of Ngāi Tara‘s ancestor and namesake, Tara. Later after they had moved down to the South Island, they defeated Waitaha along the east coast of the South Island.
The pa is described in page 393 of The art workmanship of the Maori race in New Zealand as “an ancient pa of great size, the earthworks covering many acres, and extending over three of four spurs of the hill.”
Section of a large pa at Taradale, Hawke’s Bay. The sketch section of the ditches and banks show the strength of the defensive works ; such was the extent of the pa that a very large number of men must have been required to repel a large attacking force. This pa is only one of many visible from this place. It is situated on a high spur above the river, and covers several acres.
Heipipi Pa at Bayview, Napier is described in page 303 of The art workmanship of the Maori race in New Zealand as, “A celebrated pa of the autochthonous people overlooking the outlet of the Petane Valley, near Napier.” Autochthonous means “native to the place where found; indigenous.” In 1896 it would have meant the pre-Maori people, Ngati Mamoe or Maruiwi.
The Ngati Kahungunu then moved south into Hawke Bay, first overcoming the Maruiwi in the Heipipi Pa on a hill at today’s Bayview, and in the Otatara Pa above Taradale. Tawhao settled by the Ahuriri estuary (at Napier) and Taraia settled along the Tukituki (near Hastings). Full story
According to T.M.R. (Boy) Tomoana, a Waipatu elder who was interviewed in 1971, the original inhabitants of the Otatara area were the Ngati Hotu and Ngati Apa tribes. The former tribe is now non-existent and the Ngati Apa is reduced to a very small number.
The falls are actually a concrete weir built in 1922 by the Havelock Borough Council on top of the existing falls, to provide water for a small power station that was downstream.
As you can see it is a popular swimming spot. I would have liked to have known about this as a child. We always swam in the Ngaruroro River. This is much better.
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