The Story of How Geothermal Activity Came to Aotearoa, New Zealand
Ngatoroirangi
The earliest Māori stories speak of a man named Ngatoroirangi, a tohunga (high priest) who guided the Te Arawa canoe to this land from Hawaiki, the ancestral homeland of Māori. Anxious to explore, he and an expedition party, travelled east from Maketu, down the coast until he reached what is now known as the Tarawera River. Naming it Te Awa-o-te-atua, he turned inland and followed it upstream until he reached Ruawahia, the central peak of Mount Tarawera.
Ngatoroirangi finally reached the magnificent mountains that now form the Tongariro National Park. In order to view this new land he climbed towards the summit of Tongariro, the highest of the three mountains there. As he neared the top he was affected by the intense cold and feared he would die. In desperation he prayed to his sisters, Kuiwai and Haungaroa on the island of Raiatea to send help, the sisters knew that they could not reach Ngatoroirangi in time to save him, so they created Te Pupu and Te Hoata, Geothermal water and Geothermal steam to go and help their brother.
His sister’s creations travelled from their distant spiritual homeland, beneath sea and land in the form of fire. Wherever they paused to rise to the surface they left part of their fire, creating the geothermal system that remains today.
Their journey included Whakaari, (White Island) twenty-five miles offshore as well as Tikitere, Te Whakarewarewa, Waimungu, Waiotapu, Ōrākei Kōrako, Wairakei, Tokaanu and the mountains: Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngāuruhoe.
Ngatoroirangi was saved and the chain of thermal activity has been of great value to the people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) ever since.
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[ 1 ]. Here he had a remarkable experience. Ngatoroirangi met a spirit in the form of a person named Tama-o-Hoi, who objected to him trespassing over what he claimed as his land. He used sorcery to try and destroy Ngatoroirangi, but his power was no match for the tohunga from Hawaiki.
The earliest Māori stories speak of a man named Ngatoroirangi, a tohunga (high priest) who guided the Te Arawa canoe to this land from Hawaiki, the ancestral homeland of Māori. Anxious to explore, he and an expedition party, travelled east from Maketu, down the coast until he reached what is now known as the Tarawera River. Naming it Te Awa-o-te-atua, he turned inland and followed it upstream until he reached Ruawahia, the central peak of Mount Tarawera.
Ngatoroirangi finally reached the magnificent mountains that now form the Tongariro National Park. In order to view this new land he climbed towards the summit of Tongariro, the highest of the three mountains there. As he neared the top he was affected by the intense cold and feared he would die. In desperation he prayed to his sisters, Kuiwai and Haungaroa on the island of Raiatea to send help, the sisters knew that they could not reach Ngatoroirangi in time to save him, so they created Te Pupu and Te Hoata, Geothermal water and Geothermal steam to go and help their brother.
His sister’s creations travelled from their distant spiritual homeland, beneath sea and land in the form of fire. Wherever they paused to rise to the surface they left part of their fire, creating the geothermal system that remains today.
Their journey included Whakaari, (White Island) twenty-five miles offshore as well as Tikitere, Te Whakarewarewa, Waimungu, Waiotapu, Ōrākei Kōrako, Wairakei, Tokaanu and the mountains: Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngāuruhoe.
Ngatoroirangi was saved and the chain of thermal activity has been of great value to the people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) ever since.
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[ 1 ]. Here he had a remarkable experience. Ngatoroirangi met a spirit in the form of a person named Tama-o-Hoi, who objected to him trespassing over what he claimed as his land. He used sorcery to try and destroy Ngatoroirangi, but his power was no match for the tohunga from Hawaiki.