A FINE WALK

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 212, 4 June 1929, Page 12

A FINE WALK

ISLAND BAY TO SINCLAIR HEAD MAORI TRADITIONS If you long for a peaceful walk, where the motor troubleth not, neither doth the sight-seeing bus crowd you off the coastal road (writes H.M.C.), then hie you away to Island Bay, leave the tram at the terminus and strike off around the coast to the west, away past Owhiro Bay, until you come to the-end of the common highway, where stands a concrete wall with a handrail. Here the road ends, and a narrow strip of beach lies between the sea and the towering cliffs which rise hundreds of feet above the shingly shore.

These cliffs carry large patches of loose rock interspersed with clumps of sterile and patches of dwarf tutu, that shrub which is fatal to sheep and cattle if eaten in the spring of the year. Several carcasses and skeletons of sheep show that the poisonous shrub had had its effect on the unsuspecting animals, for each clump of the shrub had its victims near by.

The heavy seas from the south are constantly wearing away the shingle fans that come close to the shore and heavy avalanches are brought down to be swallowed up by the ocean, leaving deep gashes in the hillsides. These slides are assisted by the streams percolating from higher up the hillside, so that a “greasy back” is formed, and when the sea does its part in undercutting, the whole accumulation breaks away. The part of the coast from the end of the road to a large rock on the shore (Fly Rock) is known locally as the “Run Around,” a name well applied, for one has to “run around” when a heavy sea is rolling in and the tide is flowing. A word of caution to the prospective tramper is necessary here, for this is a bad place to be caught in the dark. One must get back past here in daylight or one might find it necessary to clamber up the cliffs, an uninviting amusement. The “Run Around” and “Fly Rock”. passed, the travelling takes one over a stretch of sand. This “Fly Rock” needs no comment, save that if the flies are at home and a tramper disturbs them he will know why the rock takes the name. The waters around here offer good fishing, and good catches of moki and cod are made. Raw crayfish is the lure for the fastidious moki, and almost any fish bait for cod, so when one goes fishing there one must be well provided with those necessaries if one hopes for a good catch. A few hundred yards beyond the “Run Around” brings the tramper to a group of week-end cottages nestling at the mouth of a deep rocky gulch. Here is the site of a very ancient Maori kainga, probably Whare-Raurekau, since a village of that name existed in that locality when the Natives had several fishing villages thereabout. Further on many large rotting logs lie well above high-water mark. These came ashore some years ago on the top of a spring tide that occurred shortly after a heavy flood in the rivers of the west coast of this island. Thousands- of logs were distributed around the coast, and the few that are seen indicate the exceptional height reached by the tide. Here the track improves for a "short distance, until the Red Rocks, Pariwhero (Red Cliffs), are reached, when the sandy stretches give place to shattered rocks and sharp stones. The bloodred colour of the slates that lie around in all directions gives the locality a strange appearance.

Not many years ago a company was formed to quarry the stone for building purposes, and a considerable amount of capital was sunk in opening up the face of the hill, but apparently the venture was not a success, for all the plant has been removed and the buildings demolished, only the engine foundations showing where the work had been carried on. The presence of the blood-coloured rocks led the Maoris to provide legends accounting for the unusual appearance, and two stories have been handed down bearing on the subject. These are given by Elsdon Best in “The Land of Tara.” The great navigator Kupe, who came here about forty generations back, “had his hand clamped by a Paua (Haliotis) so severely that the flowing blood stained the surrounding rocks, as also the Ngakihi (limpet patella) of the adjacent waters.” The other version sounds better, and is to the effect that Kupe left his daughters at this place while away on one of his exploring trips. “He was away so long that the maidens began to mourn for him as lost to the world of life. They lacerated themselves after the manner Maori, even’so that the flowing blood stained the rocks of Pari-whero for ever.”

In the early days of Wellington settlement, Pari-whero was frequently spelt Poliwhero. There was probably some Maori settlement here in early days, most likely fishing camps, for a stone adze was found right at the Red Rocks. The remains of any villages in the locality Sion became covered by detritus from the hillsides, besides the lack of indications around there.

’ Just beyond Pari-whero is a steep-slop-ing shingly beach, with a fine stream of water flowing to the sea. This stream, which comes from the deep valleys away south of Karori, has brought down many boulders which have piled up in the bay. This may account for some of the stones in the vicinity, but the writer believes that quaitities of them have been deposited there by the currents scouring the coast, and carrying them from the avalanches that come down at “Run Around.” This may not be a correct theory, but the great accumulations of recent years seem to coincide with the extensive slips which have taken place further along the coast to the north-east. On the west of this bay several week-end cottages lie close up under the hill, and the owners have chosen the positions for the same reasons as did the Maoris who had their homes there. Close to the cottages is a large karaka grove, one of the few survivors of the groves that were plentiful a few years ago. It is generally believed that many of the old karaka groves around the coast had been planted by early occupants of the land, and from them they drew part of their food supply in the kernels of the berriesi

The native village which is thought to have existed here is Taumata-Patiti, the name applied to the karaka grove; the ridge above terminating at Sinclair Head, also bore than name. Just a few yards to the south-west stands Sinclair Head, probably the southernmost point of the North Island. From it a very extensive view of the coast is obtained—away towards Cape Palliser on the east, and Terawhiti on the west. To the south no land is visible, but to the south-west much of the South Island may be seen, and the bold peaks of Kaikoura make a striking picture. The native name of Sinclair Head is Te Rimurapa, said to have been given on account of the quantities of bull-kelp that grow there. Rimurapa is the Maori name for the giant seaweed (D’Urvilloea Utilis), the flat leathery kelp, which when split open and.dried served as containers for food. Preserved birds, etc., were generally kept in the bags, and legend tells us that Kupe landed at Te Rimurapa to replenish his food supply of dried fish and shellfish, and utilised kelp from the nearby rocks to make his preserving bags. In the early days cattle and sheep from McMenamin’s Terawhiti Station passed through the narrow gateway, and the same coastal route is still much used by travellers to and from Terawhiti. Several of the large rocks off the Head were named by the Maoris. There is Te Kauae o Poua, probably the jaw or chin of Poua. whoever that might be., Then there b Mohuia. laid to have been named at

ter a female relative of Kupe. It is not known to which of the rocks these names are given; so call them what you will. If you see any resemblance to the jaw of Poua, then that’s Te Kauae o Poua; if not, it is the other.

The ridge above Te Rimurapa appears p. most unlikely place for a stockaded village, and yet there was the site of Makure-Rua, a Ngati-Mamoe possession of long ago.

Away back in July, 1845, the barque Tyne, of 500 tons, was lost here. She ran into a heavy south-easterly gale, was caught in a bad place, struck one of the numerous rocks,' and foundered. She carried about £6OOO in specie. It was the long boat from the Tyne that caused much consternation amongst the troops of Te Rauparaha and Rangihaeata at Pauatahanui, when in 1846 Lieutenant McKillop, of H.M.S. Calliope, fitted it with a couple of guns and attacked the stronghold at the eastern arm of Porirua Harbour. Lieutenant McKillop has described how one of the guns burst at a critical time, blinding him temporarily, and cutting his head. The boat was surrounded by Maoris, but they were driven off, and the crew “beat it” back to safety. Rimurapa figures largely in the New Zealand Land Company’s first purchase on September 27, 1839, for that was the southernmost point of the boundary for the purchase of Wellington. Part of the agreement runs thus: “From the said point where the Rimurap range of mountains strikes the sea in Cook’s Strait, in a direct line to the aforesaid point, where the Turikiiai (Turaki-Rae) range strikes the sea in the said Cook’s Straits, is the southern boundary of the said lands, etc.”

From a point just beyond Sinclair Head, Tom’s Rock may be seen off Tongue Point. ’The native name of this pillar of rock is Tokahaere, said to have been named after one of Kupe’s daughters. From its habit of moving from place to place, and also of making itself invisible, the natives decided that it was possessed of supernatural powers, and a “tohunga” with strong magical charms came along and fixed Tokahaere, and now that it cannot move from its place, a light has been placed on its head.