The Rangitikei River

Tu Tangata, Issue 35, 1 April 1987, Page 32

The Rangitikei River

ONGARA O M U A

Because of its location, the Rangitikei River was never destined to serve the important role that the larger Whanganui did in the communication network of earlier times. Nevertheless for all the limitations imposed on the water course by its geographical location, it still played an important role. It provided an alternative route to Taupo and further points to the north and east, as well as providing access between the east and west coasts of Te-Ika-a-Maui by way of the Ruahine Range.

Rangitikei is an ancient place name which legend holds was bestowed on this lower North Island West Coast river by the famous personage Hau. In the course of chasing an errant wife, he took the opportunity of naming prominent features of the landscape from Whanganui to Pukerua Bay. In an ori ori of the Ngati Apa, it is recorded in poetic form that “Beyond (the Turakina) with lengthened stride he (Hau) reached the Rangitikei”. The more matter of fact Rev. Richard Taylor interpreted this example of a Maori lullaby as meaning, in prosaic English, that this line of the ori ori meant “a considerable step from the Turakina” in fact a good day’s walk for travellers.

In ancient and early colonial times before bridges were placed across the river, the Rangitikei presented coastal travellers with problems and it was necessary for parties on approaching its mouth to move up stream until a fordable section was reached. European travellers often found difficulties in finding their way along this ancient section of the North Island’s walkway system because of shifting dunes, thick vegetation and the existence of swamps on the river flat. However it is from where a party met the navigable section of the river, that the really interesting story of the part that the Rangitikei played in the communication system of old Te-Ika-a-Maui and early colonial times unfolds.

It is from the pen of the then Wellington provincial geologist James Coutts Crawford, that today we are afforded the opportunity of tracing this ancient route to Taupo by way of the

Rangitikei river system and the Onetapu desert. We see the difficulties that travellers had to overcome in the days when travelling was primitive in the extreme.

Military operations

Being a former junior officer in the Royal Navy, despatch writing came easily to Crawford and much is conveyed with the minimum of words. In his account of the journey to Taupo, a day by day description is given of the varied terrain along the route, travelling times between major landmarks, points where tracks crossed the river and where halts were made for overnight stops. Descriptive as the account is we cannot escape the conclusion that, in recording this information which was supplemented by sketches of scenes along the way, all this would have been of great use to the authorities if military operations had to be mounted in the Rangitikei in what were not altogether harmonious times.

With its shingle bottom, treeless and tortuous flood plain of its lower reaches, the Rangitikei at this juncture of its course reminded Crawford of its similarity with a Canterbury river. However from where the outposts of Pakeha settlement ceased and its navigable length commenced, its character changed abruptly, for the next six days were spent journeying through forested country with the river entrenched between high steep banks. This gave Crawford and countless other travellers in earlier times cause for thought as to what would be in store if the river should rise.

Crawford also noticed that in having a smaller volume of water and the rapids not presenting such a hazard to navigation as the Whanganui, smaller craft plied the Rangitikei. Apart from his companion, the craft which Crawford hired was manned by a crew of four.

Crawford commenced his journey on January 12, 1862 with the objective in mind of studying a coal seam in the Tangarakau which is a major tributary of the Whanganui. This roundabout way of getting about the country was

brought about by what he considered to be the intransigence of the Kingites in denying him access to the Tangarakau from the Whanganui and in order to complete his aborted mission to the upper river, he decided to come through a back entrance.

Downstream

The description of Crawford’s journey from the mouth of the Rangitikei to the shores of Taupo makes interesting reading for it takes a person back into a past that is gone forever. In describing the scenery along the way Crawford used the correct nomenclature when referring to where major confluences joined the Rangitikei and where pa and kainga were situated. Crawford’s description of the passing scenery comes to life for anyone who has a rudimentary geographical knowledge of the river when it is appreciated that references to left and right banks mean when a party would be proceeding downstream. This places all features described by Crawford on the opposite side of the valley and is still the standard practice in guide books of any value.

As the canoe proceeded upstream Crawford recorded place names that today are largely forgotten. Being a geologist, when passing Te Kipi he was visibly impressed by the signs of the massive landslide that seven years earlier had blocked the river for two days. This was the result of the February 1855 earthquake which is considered to be of magnitude 8 and makes it the greatest shake of modem times but when Maori tradition is taken into account, not necessarily the largest seismic movement of the last 1000 years. Crawford made his first campsite at Waikokiwai and the second at Makohina. It was at the latter place that the ancient track from the West Coast met the river and to serve notice that the Maori population moved about was the presence of a party from Taupo engaged in the process of constructing a mokihi (make-shift canoe) from bark in order that they could forsake overland travel for the less strenuous journey on the river.

Crossing the river

At Te Whata bad rapids were encountered. Here the canoe had to be towed upstream and while this was being undertaken a fatality nearly occurred. At Pohunga the road to Taupo was once more encountered as it crossed the river. On January 17 the party reached the Kauwhata junction and it was here that Crawford pondered over the dangers of camping in the Rangitikei because the vertical cliffs restricted parties to sleeping out on the flood-prone shingle banks. Next day the Hautapu river was passed and a further ford noticed where the ancient road to Taupo crossed the river.

It was on this day that more bad rapids were passed at Tokakai Tangata. On reaching Te Whahaihai the river narrowed to 30 yards and began to wind for some distance between cliffs 150 feet in height. Here Crawford was informed by his guides that this stretch of the river was paraki Maori a strongly fortified position. Once these narrows were passed the Moawhango was reached and a new phase of the journey to Taupo commenced. The Moawhango which joined the Rangitikei on its right bank, a virtual ditch for this major tributary, was confined between high steep banks and for considerable stretches the bed was no more than 10 or 12 feet wide. This stretch of the route to Taupo would have been somewhat soul-destroying for, due to the narrowness of the river, the overhanging forest canopy effectively blocked out the sky so that travellers were compelled to travel under gloomy conditions. This section of the journey occupied Crawford for five days and it can be appreciated that for all parties a sigh of relief would be breathed once the navigable portion of the Rangitikei and its tributary, the Moawhango, came to an end. From here parties climbed out of the Moawhango, scaled the steep bank and took to the hills.

Crawford vividly captures the lifting of the human spirit once the vision of travellers was no longer restricted. On reaching Pawerarewa, a small kainga, the volcanic peaks of the central North Island were in full view. Completing the panoramic view from the clearings around Pawerarewa was the district of Mokai Patea (inland Patea) where the Ngati Paneiri or Te Upokoiri hapu of Ngati Kahungunu dwelt. The view eastward towards Napier showed flattopped hills and which was the area that the Rev. Colenso explored in the 1840 s when he visited the western boundary of his far-flung parochial district.

On reaching Pakehiwi leave was taken of the Moawhango. This provided a new experience for Crawford and his companion Deighton, in that the river was crossed by a tuhape (maori bridge) with a span of 18 paces and which saved a precipitous descent of 150 feet to the channel below. Here Crawford, it can be said, came back on course, for as his journey was of a scientific nature, it needs to be re-

membered that he had deviated somewhat from the traditional route to Taupo from the Rangitikei mouth. At Herekiekie the party followed the Hautapu through a mixture of forested and open country. The final section of the grand tour to Taupo commenced on January 24 when the Waitangi was crossed with a resultant change in scenery and temperature as the bleak plateau of Onetapu was reached. After

the upper reaches of the Wangaehu were passed the track led to Waihohonu. From here the track crossed a succession of low ridges and travelling became more rugged as these physical barriers were separated by cold mountain torrents which had to be forded until finally Roto Aira was reached. Roto Aira served as a sign that Taupo was close at hand.