The Tomahawk

Invading army turned to stone by tohungas.       Long before the Maori arrived from Hawaiki the Rotorua district was occupied by Patupaiarehe: an elf-like race of people, with very fair skins. They were very skilled in the arts of magic and extremely wary of strangers.       Mount Ngongotaha, beside Lake Rotorua, was sacred to them as a guardian - and from its heights they could keep watch across the countryside in every direction.       Ominously, one day the birds fell silent and the sunlight turned a peculiar hazy colour as if affected by a large forest fire. As the concerned lookouts scanned the land below they saw the treetops covering the Mamakau Plateau to the north begin to toss furiously as if blown by a hurricane, yet the air on the mountain was still. Tremendous thunderclouds gathered and the earth began to shake.       The Patupaiarehe realized that they were being ap...

The gods were so angry they made the water boil.       At Kuirau Park in Rotorua can be found a remarkable assortment of steaming thermal activity, including a large extremely hot pool amidst tea-tree and swirls of steam - Kuirau Pool - named after a Maori woman who had a most unfortunate experience with a taniwha (water-monster).       Long before the coming of the white man the pool was known as Tawakahu. At that time its temperature was perfect for bathing, and successive chiefs reserved the water for the use of themselves and their families. Possession of the pool eventually passed to Tamahika who reserved the waters for the private use his very beautiful young wife Kuirau.       Kuirau swam naked in the comforting waters every morning and evening, unseen by human eyes. However she was constantly watched from the deep bottom of the pool by a vicious taniwha. This evil monster was afraid of man only em...

On Lake Rotoiti “The Leaping Place of Tikawe” gets its name from an incident when a Maori woman leapt to her death after being jilted by her husband. Lake Rotoiti near The Leaping Place of Tikawe              In days long past Tikawe, a high-born woman, lived at Te Taiki pa on a high cliff-top beside Lake Rotoiti with her husband whom she loved dearly. Historian James Cowan relates that one day Tikawe’s husband went away to the east, while she anxiously awaited his return. But as weeks turned into months she grew more worried every day, becoming increasingly emaciated and listless. One day a visitor from Heretaunga (Napier) arrived at Te Taiki with the news that Tikawe's husband had fallen in love with a woman there and had settled down with her. There was much concern on the marae at the way Tikawe had been deserted, with some wanting to raise a war party to punish the adulterer at once. Tikawe did not join the people but...