The wharenui that travelled the world
Named after the waka bringing Māori from Polynesia to Whakatāne about 1350, the huge, highly decorated Mātaatua Wharenui has a remarkable history.
It’s the ancestral home of the Ngāti Awa people, built in difficult times to unite them, and opened in 1875. Richly carved outside, it is even more impressive inside. Its panels and pillars are a dazzle of pattern, colour and intricate chiselling, their meanings explained on the guided tours available.
WHY GO?
Because this wharenui has quite possibly travelled further than you have.
Just three years after it was built, it was chosen by the government as the perfect example of Māori culture to show off abroad, and so it was blithely disassembled and shipped off to Sydney’s 1879 International Exhibition.
With no protocol, it was ignorantly rebuilt inside-out, its carvings and woven tukutuku panels exposed to the harsh sunshine for six months.
A similar fate befell it next in Melbourne, before the wharenui was then taken to London, where it was briefly displayed before disappearing into storage for 40 years. Further damaged, it was put on show again, and visited by George V and Queen Mary, before finally being returned home – almost.
In 1925, it was displayed at Dunedin’s exhibition, then presented to Otago Museum,
where it languished until its final return to Whakatāne in 1996. It has since been lovingly restored to its former glory.
INSIDER TIP
If you choose to do the highly recommended Cultural Immersion Experience, go hungry. The feast that ends your visit may include local seafood such as mussel fritters and chowder, as well as venison rolls, fried bread with jam, its famous kūmara brownies, and pots of kawakawa tea. You will still get tea and brownies on the shorter tour.
Women of a certain age should expect to be called auntie by the friendly and wellinformed guide.
ON THE WAY/NEARBY
There is a replica of the Mātaatua canoe in the nearby Kaputerangi Historic Reserve, which will fill you with admiration for the navigational skills, endurance and sheer bravery of those who set out in it on such a long and uncertain journey. The waka itself is impressively carved and decorated.
Close by Te Tōku o Irākewa rock and Te Ana ō Muriwai/ Muriwai’s Cave, two of the landmarks that Toroa, captain and navigator of the waka, was told to look for.
On the other side of the river mouth, you will see the striking statue of the Lady on the Rock, honouring Toroa’s daughter Wairaka, whose alertness and bravery saved the lives of the women left on board when the waka began to drift, and who also gave Whakatāne its name.
HOW MUCH?
The hour-long Express tour is $49 adults, $20 children; the excellent Know Mātaatua Cultural Immersion two-hour experience is $125 and $60. It’s open every day, 9am to 4pm December to March, and until 2pm the rest of the year.
BEST TIME TO GO
Choose a fine day, to enjoy the pōwhiri outside. Be sure to book ahead. Visit mataatua.com.
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