The Rakaia Gorge Track

I ran this relatively easy track after dropping my son off near the turn off to Lake Coleridge en route to Mt Olympus for a ski week in July 2014.

The trail is easily accessed from the Rakaia Bridge and is well marked out and only some 10-11 kilometres. This is a good running route to take whanau and others who may not be up for a run at all or a big or steep traverse. There are some spectacular views along the way. It does loop back on itself. Not far from here is one of the five passes east to west, and an important pounamu trade route, Nōti Raureka. 

http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz28729/Rakaia%20River/Canterbury

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/canterbury/north-canterbury-and-arthurs-pass/rakaia-gorge-walkway/

The Rakaia and Nor-West Wind

It is said that a taniwha used to dwell near the Acheron flats / Fighting Hill area. Here he cultivated and hunted the giant moa as well as the weka, and other feathered game.

On a particularly cold day the taniwha went in search of a hot spring in which to warm himself. In his absence a demon in the form of a violent north-west wind, came down the Rakaia from the Main Divide, and in so doing laid waste to the home and property of the taniwha. The taniwha returned and set about resurrecting his home and resolved to outwit the north-west demon should he return.

The taniwha journeyed up to the mountains and brought down huge stones and boulders with which he hoped to halt or even imprison the demon. With the stones and boulders the course of the Rakaia was narrowed so that it flowed contorted between two rocky walls. The keystone of the taniwha's gigantic task remains today as the rock island which acts as a portion of the Rakaia Gorge bridge.

The demon - the north-west wind - in his struggle to have a clear pathway to Kā Pākihi-whakatekateka-a-Waitaha , became so warm that the heat from his body melted the snow from the mountains of Kā Tiritiri o te Moana.

In creating his rock barrier the taniwha perspired and this fell so hot on the stones and boulders that they were blistered. The proof of this is that today you can find rock crystal in the bed of the Rakaia river.

Retrieved at http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-TayLore-t1-body1-d11.html

Nōti Raureka (Browning Pass)

The Rakaia area was significant to Ngāi Tahu in gaining Mana Whenua over Te Tai Poutini (the West Coast) and so importantly, control of pounamu trade, from the Kāti Wairaki, a people descended from Taranaki near Patea.

Pounamu was hugely valued in the creation of the tools and weapons. Kāti Wairaki had for several generations controlled a significant amount of the pounamu trade, transporting the valuable commodity north along the coast to the Nelson area and from here across to Whanganui. Kāti Wairaki then also controlled the return trade of other valuable goods south, including obsidians and basalts.

Modern Ngāi Tahu formation in Te Waipounamu began with the arrival of several iwi from the north island including Tūtekawa and his followers and subsequently Kāti Tūhaitara.

At the behest of Tūrākautahi of Kāti Tūhaitara meetings were sought with Kāti Wairaki to understand the island and its geography. Tense engagement led to hostilities, though not cessation of trade.

Knowledge of the routes across Kā Tiritiri o te Moana (Southern Alps) and to the treasured pounamu is said to have been acquired in two ways.

A Kāti Wairaki wahine from the Lake Kaniere area, named Raureka, arrived on the east coast in the Arowhenua region at the lower Rakaia, carrying a pounamu toki (adze). She met with a group of Kāti Tūhaitara and demonstrated the superiority of her toki and importantly revealed to them in some detail her route.

Te Rakitāmau, son of Tūtekawa, is said to have overheard Kāti Wairaki travelers talking about the Nōti Rureka route and took this information to Tūrākautahi, who then commissioned him to lead a party of toa (warriors) over the route to Tai Poutini. Te Rakitāmau knew the Rakaia well and successfully led his party over the route described by Raureka.

Near Lake Kaniere Te Rakitāmau engaged in battle with resident Kāti Wairaki, during which Wairaki chief Te Uekanuka was killed. Other battles were to follow between Kāti Tūhaitara and Kāti Wairaki. Hostilities lasted generations following the death of several Tūhaitara chiefs at Lake Mahinapua.

From the evidence of Tā Tipene Gerard O’Regan retrieved at http://files.ecan.govt.nz/public/rakaia-rehearing/rakaia-wco-evidence-oregan-ngai-tahu.pdf