This seaside reserve, half an hour from Auckland includes a kilometre-long sandy beach and a coastal marine reserve. Green hillsides provide a buffer from the neighbouring suburbs and pohutukawas flank the beach along the length of the bay.
The parkland continues north of the beach for about two kilometres before turning inland along the Okura river.
Vaughan homestead, the original farm homestead has been restored and is open for visitors.
Jubilee Park, known locally as Claudelands Bush, is a tiny bush remnant of what was a 200-hectare forest, dominated by Kahikatea, Rimu and Matai. Development has seen the forest shrink over the years to its current size, with some of the remaining trees part of the original forest.
The park is also home to the endangered long tailed bat, the pekapeka, one of New Zealand’s only mammals.
Walk: Hamilton 17
Links
Long tailed bats: Andrew Styche, from the Department of Conservation (DOC), thinks bats have mostly survived in Hamilton thanks to tiny islands of remnant bush within the city limits.
“There’s not much original vegetation left around here so it is amazing they’ve survived,” Andrew says.
From the signboard, the land was originally a renowned native bird forest hunting area. The first inhabitants of the area were the Mokohape, a sub-tribe of an extensive tribal group known as Nga Iwi (the people). They were replaced by Tainui people from Mokau and Kawhia.
In the 1800s battles were fought against Te Rauparaha from the west, Ngapuhe from the north and then the British in the Waikato land wars of the 1860s.
With European settlement, Francis Claude subdivided the land in 1870 and the suburb became known as Claudelands.
TheMokohape
Mokohape refers to a figure depicted on carved pou (posts) outside a casino in Hamilton, New Zealand, which represents a tribe of the Nga Iwi people who once lived on the Waikato River before being conquered by Ngaati Wairere, who occupied the land from since the mid to late 16th century.
The pou features a carved face and a lizard, symbolizing the Mokohape people’s struggle for survival and eventual displacement, an event captured by the proverb,“People may disappear but the land remains.” Source: Google AI
The ancient name of the Waikato River
The ancient name of the Waikato river was ‘Te Awanui O Taikehu,’ meaning the big river of Taikehu.
I wonder if it’s the same Taikehu who was the chief of a Taranaki tribe living at Patea Heads when the Aotea canoe arrived? The Patea River was also named ‘Te Awa nui a Taikehu.’ According to Tainui tradition Taikeu was a a tohunga of the Tainui waka. There are a few placenames associated with this name; the full name of Motutapu Island – the island east of Auckland is ‘Motutapu-o-Taikehu,‘ the sacred island of Taikehu. There’s also a lake Taikehu in the Bay of Plenty between Whakatane and Kawerau.
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.”
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.
…..
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
…..
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.
…..
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.
NZShortWalks 