Aotearoa through the eyes of Kupe
Following the path that the great Polynesian explorer took around our country a millennium ago makes for an epic and fascinating adventure, writes Lorna Thornber.
The great Polynesian navigator Kupe is said to have had a pretty eventful time in New Zealand. According to Ma¯ ori oral traditions, he chased a giant tentacled creature to Wairarapa, almost lost his life in a battle with it on Cook Strait, and had epic adventures in Wellington and along the west coast of the North Island before finding a temporary home in Hokianga.
Legend has it that he loved the Northland district so much he turned one of his sons into a taniwha to help protect it before his eventual return to Hawaiki.
Kupe is credited in many Ma¯ ori narratives as being the first person to discover Aotearoa
1000 years ago, having used the stars and currents to guide his waka across the South Pacific.
While some (mostly Pa¯ keha¯ ) scholars have dismissed him as a mythical figure, many Ma¯ ori authorities believe him to be an early ancestor.
Multiple hapu¯ trace their whakapapa to the explorer, and he has left many a mark on the Land of the Long White Cloud in the form of place names that commemorate him and his adventures.
There are different accounts of why he left his homeland. Some say he chased an oversized wheke (octopus), which was stealing his fishing bait all the way to our shores. Others state that he fled his homeland after killing a man and running off with his wife.
Stories of his travels in New Zealand also vary. An account on the Land Information New Zealand (Linz) website says he landed in Wairarapa and made his way to Hokianga in a clockwise direction after catching up with the wheke on Cook Strait. Others say he made it to the bottom of the South Island. By all accounts, though, his journey was a great adventure, one that still makes for an epic road or boat trip today. Here are just a few Kuperelated sites you could add to your itinerary.
Rangiwhakaoma Castlepoint
This popular Wairarapa holiday spot could well have been the first place Kupe parked his waka on New Zealand shores, and what an introduction to the land his wife is said to have named Aotearoa.
With a sandy beach backed by a bizarre, 162-metre-high rock formation that went on to capture Ma¯ ori and Pa¯ keha¯ imaginations alike (Captain Cook thought it so majestic he named it Castle Rock), Rangiwhakaoma is New Zealand at its ruggedly good-looking best.
The mischievous wheke is said to have hidden in a cave below Castle Rock now known as Te Anao-te-wheke-a-Muturangi, but Kupe tracked it down as night fell.
Realising the creature was trapped, he decided to wait until morning to confront it, but the wily wheke stole away under the cloak of darkness before he got the chance. Some say the creature may have been a wheketere (giant squid), which have been known to fight with whales in these parts.
Kupe is said to have spent some time in Wairarapa, which suggests he abandoned his pursuit at this point. And is it any wonder? The lagoon at Rangiwhakaoma is a sheltered swimming spot, the beach a favourite hangout among dolphins and fur seals, and the sand dunes are a lot of fun to slide down.
Surfing hadn’t been invented, so he couldn’t have taken advantage of the excellent surf break, and the lighthouse was yet to be built, so he wouldn’t have done the popular walk to visit it. I’m sure he noted the abundance of birds and marine mammals though. If he spoke English and shared Cook’s place-naming inclinations, this might have become the Bay of Plenty.
Ma¯takitaki-a-Kupe Cape Palliser
Ma¯ takitaki-a-Kupe translates to ‘‘the gazing out place of Kupe’’ and while it’s unclear just what the great man was gazing out at, every view is a good one from the cape. On a clear day, you can see all the way across Cook Strait to the Kaiko¯ ura Range.
Some say Kupe was searching for the wheke. Others that he was taking time out to ponder a daughter who had left him. It’s certainly well suited to mournful contemplation – the coast is so dramatically treacherous it wrecked 20 ships in the 19th century.
The landmark lighthouse was installed in 1897, so Kupe wouldn’t have climbed the 250 steps to reach it. And he wouldn’t have stopped at the yetto-be-founded fishing village of Ngawı¯, which now claims to have more tractors per capita than anywhere else in the world (you’ll find a lot of them hauling crayfish-laden boats up the beach).
Wild, windswept and proudly ungentrified, it’s arguably one of the most underrated beach towns in the country. However, Kupe might have set eyes on the now-famous fur seal colony, which is the largest in the North Island. Even today, Cape Palliser has a timeless, edge-of-the-world vibe.
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
Wellington wasn’t the world’s coolest little capital, or a capital of any description, when Kupe and his crew visited, but there was enough going on to keep him occupied for some time.
The wha¯ nau are said to have settled in Maraenui (Seatoun), now a beachside suburb with a photogenic wharf that somehow remains off most tourists’ radars. The beach, bears its first human inhabitant’s name: Te Tu¯ ranganui-a-Kupe.
Kupe is said to have named Matiu and Ma¯ karo islands after female relatives, and they’re a lovely legacy. Occupied by Ma¯ ori for generations, Matiu/ Somes Island is now a wildlife sanctuary reached by ferries from Wellington. Tiny Ma¯ karo/Ward Island, where bush-clad cliffs rise above a crescent moon-shaped beach, can be accessed by boat or kayak, and even in summer you’re likely to have the place to yourself. Keep your eyes peeled for korora¯ (blue penguins) and stingrays.
Some say Kupe left many of his people on Mana Island when he resumed his pursuit of the wheke, while others say he farewelled them at Te Rimurapa/Sinclair Head. Both are well worth checking out. Mana Island is a scientific reserve home to spotted kiwi, korora¯ , takahe¯ , a lighthouse, a restored woodshed filled with historic displays, and walking tracks with spectacular harbour views.
Te Rimurapa, meanwhile, is a resting place for male fur seals. You can see more than 100 of them catching some weak winter rays between May and August. If you see some bull kelp, you could do as Kupe’s crew are said to have done and make containers for food from them. It has to be better than plastic.
The hour-long coastal walk to Te Rimurapa will take you past Pariwhero/Red Rocks, where one of
Kupe’s daughters is said to have thrown herself from the cliffs because she feared he was dead, hence the blood-red hue of the rocks below.
Marlborough Sounds
Raukawa Moana/Cook Strait is said to have been the site of Kupe’s great battle with the wheke, its beauty belying this bloody history.
Accounts of the battle vary, but the Linz story states that the wheke tried to ensnare the waka in its supersized tentacles at the entrance to
To¯ taranui (Queen Charlotte Sound), one of the drowned river valleys that form the Marlborough Sounds. As his men hacked away at the tentacles, the more strategically minded Kupe threw some gourds over the side, attracting its attention. Mistaking the gourds for men, the wheke went after them and Kupe had his David and Goliath moment, jumping on to the giant’s head and delivering a fatal blow with his whalebone patu.
Catch a Cook Strait ferry or take a cruise through the Sounds and you’re likely to pass many places named by or after Kupe. The explorer named Kura Te Au (the Tory Channel) for the red hue that favourite whale food krill lends the water; Arapaoa Island, where you can spend the night in an ocean-view homestead for just $35 a night, is named after the downward blow Kupe used to kill the wheke; and nearby Nga¯ whatu-kai-ponu island’s name translates to ‘‘the eyes that witnessed’’.
Te Aumiti/French Pass also has a Kupe connection. According to an account in Te Ara:
The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, he sent two birds to investigate the South Island before he crossed the strait himself. One, a cormorant called Te Kawau-a-Toru, broke a wing off the Rangitoto of the south (aka D’Urville Island), forming the passage now known as Te Aumiti.
On the outer edges of the Marlborough Sounds, D’Urville Island is arguably one of the best places in New Zealand to get away from it all. If you don’t have a boat, you’ll need to take a water taxi to get there, but it’s worth the effort. New Zealand’s fifthlargest land mass is a nature lover’s paradise: Follow tracks through ancient forest for views of the Sounds, or look out for dolphins and seals as you paddle past its pretty bays.
Other Marlborough sites commemorating Kupe include Te Umu Wheke, where he is said to have cooked up the octopus he’d killed; Te Taonuia-Kupe (Cape Jackson), named for its spear-like shake; and rock formations that resemble nets hung out to dry on the cape’s cliffs (Te Kupengaa-Kupe).
Hokianga
Kupe and his crew are thought to have hung out in Hokianga for years, if not decades, and it’s not hard to see why. With its huge harbour, giant sand dunes, ancient forest, and ‘‘winterless north’’ climate, it’s a nice place to call home.
Kupe is said to have grown ku¯ mara and fished at Pa¯ kanae, about 2km north of the classic Kiwi beach town of Opononi, and the small settlement is a must-visit for history buffs and those who like to venture off the beaten track. You’ll find a stone monument to the explorer outside the hilltop marae and a pa¯ site that is probably among the oldest in New Zealand.
In Opononi, a new $9.6 million cultural and education centre, Manea, tells the stories of Kupe through live performance, a 4D film, large-scale artworks, and a series of digital stations. Guided 75-minute tours are led by descendants of the great man himself, so you can expect to be wellinformed.
From Opononi, you can catch a water taxi to the dunes on the northern side of the harbour where Kupe is said to have left two taniwha to watch for enemies.
Seek them out before enjoying a spot of sandboarding, which the athletic navigator surely would have given a go.
Before leaving for the long journey back to Hawaiki, Kupe is said to have named the harbour Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe (the final returning place of Kupe). He never made it back to New Zealand himself by most accounts, but gave others directions.
Some of those who followed settled in Hokianga and, through their descendants, the legends of the great navigator live on.