Maori Place Names - 62

Urungaio

Hokianga, Far North

May 2009 Ajr

Maori Place Names - 60

Near the Ferry Landing, Kohukohu

Hokianga Harbour, Northland

May 2009, Ajr

Crossing the Hokianga

It was a perfect, still, blue-skied, Far North day when I crossed the Hokianga Harbour from Kohukohu to Rawene on May 2 last year. (Approaching Rawene Wharf above).
I caught the ferry in the knick of time - I had been dawdling outside Tauteihiihi Marae at Kohukohu, taking photographs - and as I leapt aboard, I couldn't help noticing the eerie tumble of clouds perfectly reflected in the millpond waters of the harbour.

My experience of Hokianga Harbour and the surrounding landscapes is limited - basically just two trips across on the ferry. But the area is riddled with Maori history and interesting Maori settlements and one day, I hope to spend several weeks in the area, following remote side roads to discover the inner workings of the place. On last year's trip (while researching the 6th edition of Frommers New Zealand), I did manage to see a lot more but I seldom had the time to linger long, or to go too far off the main highway. Like Eastland's Tuhoe country, it's one of the few areas of New Zealand I don't know like the back of my hand and I hanker after the time to them both justice.

A Northern Stop.

It was a quiet Saturday morning in May when I happened upon a sunny valley at Oue, on State Highway 12 between Waimamaku and Omapere in the Southern Hokianga in the Far North of the North Island. I was on my way to Herekino when I spied this small marae on the side of the road.

It’s Whakamaharatanga Marae, home to the Ngati Hine, Patu Pinake, Kainga Mataa, Parewhero hapu of the Te Rarawa iwi. I sat on the grassy verge for some time, soaking up the sun and listening to sounds and voices coming from the cluster of little houses that snuggle up beside the marae. I was hoping someone would come out for a chat but in the end, I never saw a soul. That was so often the case on my travels around New Zealand in April and May. I guess I was always on the road too early for most people; but I always enjoyed my stops nonetheless – brief glimpses into little communities that in many cases, seemed forgotten by time. www.terarawa.co.nz

Maori Place Names - 35

Hokianga Hills, Hokianga

Northland

May 2009 Ajr

Maori Place Names - 33

Hokianga Hills, Hokianga

Northland, North Island.

May 2009. Ajr

A Northern Discovery

My time in the Far North (April-May this year) was a busy blur of hotel and travel guide business, photographs and unscheduled side-tracks down dusty, gravel roads leading to who-knows-where. I discovered all sorts of things that way - places I'd never been to before, places I knew nothing about. Sometimes I didn't even have to veer off the main roads; I just came upon new surprises quite by chance.

This was one of them - the delightful Te Kaiwaha Marae at Waiwhatawhata. I would have whizzed right by it had my attention not been caught by the yellow roadsign marking the Waiwhatawhata Stream. That was a lovely long name I HAD to have for my Maori Place Names Series, so I pulled up in a hurry - and found myself right outside the gates to pretty Te Kaiwaha Marae, tucked away, hidden from road view by thickets of harakeke (flax) and native trees. All I have been able to establish about the marae is that it is home to the Ngapuhi hapu (sub-tribe) Ngati Korokoro/Ngati Wharara of the Hokianga. www.ngapuhi.iwi.nz

Back in the Hokianga

I was heading for the little village of Kohukohu to catch the ferry across to Rawene on the edge of the Hokianga Harbour in the Far North, when I saw the sign for Pikiparia Marae. I swung off the mangrove-bordered main road into Smith Deviation Road about a kilometre north of Kohukohu village. Pikiparia is home to the Te Ihutai, one of the Te Rarawa hapu; and the small cluster of marae buildings are tucked beneath low hills overlooking mangrove swamps. There was a small urupa (cemetery) on the hill above (to the left in the above photo). I didn’t linger because there was no one about for me to chat to and I had a ferry to catch to Rawene but I did regret that this was just another interesting marae that I had had to leave without discovering more about its interesting history.

The Winterless North

Four months ago I was travelling around the Far North of New Zealand. The skies were blue, the temperatures balmy, the white sands sparkling. It’s hard to believe as I sit here in a Christchurch winter but these photos are proof. I stopped a while at Opononi and Omapere, two tiny seaside towns on the edge of the Hokianga and drove to the top of the hill to take some panoramic shots. When I came down again I saw the sign leading to Kokohuia Marae, home to the Ngapuhi hapu, Ngatu Wharara. I drove up the narrow lane and popped out on the brow of a small hill in front of the marae.

There was a man mowing the marae lawns and he stopped to chat with me. He talked to me about his life, growing up in the hills above the marae; about the recent renovations to the marae's wharenui Te Whakarongotai, which he was very proud of; and about life in the Hokianga in general – where 75% of the population is Maori. It was one of those lovely spontaneous encounters that saw me driving away feeling pleased and happy with life and the people I'm lucky enough to meet along the way of it.

Maori Place Names - 13

Whirinaki, Hokianga, Northland. May 2009. Ajr
Whirinaki, Hokianga
The Far North

Hokianga History

Pakanae, Northland. May 2009. Ajr

Marae-roa Pakanae sits on a small hill beside the main road that leads in to the tiny Far North town of Opononi, in the Hokianga Harbour. Opononi of course, was made famous by Opo the Dolphin, who ‘befriended’ people in the seaside community in the 1950s. The little Maori settlement of Pakanae, just a couple of kilometres from Opononi, has a much deeper history. It’s one of the oldest Maori settlements in New Zealand and is said to be the place Kupe settled in before making his return trip to Hawaiki to encourage his people to migrate to Aotearoa. I stopped on the roadside and took some photographs of the marae, looking back up into the wonderful cloud formations that had gathered behind the hilltop buildings

Pakanae, Northland. May 2009. Ajr
And with a zoom lens, I was able to get a (slightly fuzzy) photograph of Kupe’s Memorial Stone, which sits within a small fenced area on the grassy expanse in front of the marae itself. Not so far away is the conical hill, Whiria, which is said to have been a powerful pa (fortified village) many centuries ago.
Pakanae, Northland. May 2009. Ajr
There was a gathering in progress at Pakanae when I pulled up on the roadside – I could just see people moving about in the distance and there were cars parked all the way across to the rather beautiful red-roofed church that stands nearby on the same rise – St Luke’s Anglican, according to the sign….one of the many gorgeous little red-roofed churches that dot the Far North landscape. Pakanae now has a gleaming new look after an extensive marae re-building project that culminated in a happy re-opening in December 2007. You can see before and after photographs of the marae project on their website – http://www.pakanaemarae.org.nz/

Maori Place Names - 11

In the Hokianga

Northland

May 2009. Ajr

Exploring the Hokianga

Hokianga, Northland. April 2009. Ajr

I was very taken with this marae - especially by the fact that I timed it perfectly for a lawn mowing shot. I couldn't stop and explore more of Tauteihiihi Marae because I was late for the Hokianga ferry that was going to take me from Kohukohu to Rawene.

A Northland Welcome

Northland. April 2009. Ajr

I love the way Northland iwi and hapu have set up these big welcome signs on the edge of their 'territories.' It makes the whole Northland travel experience so much more interesting. I stopped to photograph this one just before I reached the fascinating little community of Whirinaki on my way to the Hokianga in the Far North.