View to Takapo

Te Aruhe Pora – Two Thumb Range

Another stunning part of the motu, this wee adventure took us to Lake Tekapo and to the Two Thumbs range in Te Kahui Kaupeka Conservation Park. Here we followed the road up through Round Hill Ski Field and then up to Mt Musgrave (I think) with a stunning 360° view. I have included a view of Aoraki and while largely obscured, you get an impression of the massive scale of this maunga.

Outside of the DOC brochure, I am not too sure where the Te Aruhe Pora reference derives so will leave this for the most part until I do know.

The correct name is said to be Takapo. The components of the word – “taka” and “po” mean, respectively, “sleeping mat” and “night”. According to legend an exploring party was disturbed here at night, took fright, hastily rolled up their sleeping mats and fled.

A road up to the ski field then largely off trail-but a great day trip-running in and climbing up. And hot pools on your return to the village. Tumeke!

http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/11876/TWO-THUMB-RANGE/Canterbury

http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/canterbury/raukapuka/te-kahui-kaupeka-conservation-park.pdf

Ngā Puna Wai Karikari o Rākaihautū descibes how the principal lakes of Te Wai Pounamu were created by the rangatira Rākaihautū, including Takapo. Rākaihautū was the captain of the Uruao which brought the Waitaha peoples to New Zealand. Rākaihautū beached his canoe at Whakatū (Nelson). From Whakatū, Rākaihautū divided the arrivals in two, with his son Rokohouia taking one party to explore the coastline southwards and Rākaihautū taking another southward by an inland route. On his inland journey Rākaihautū used his famous kō to dig the lakes of Te Wai Pounamu, including Takapo.

Takapo was often occupied and like most lakes there are traditions of a taniwha connected with it. It is said that the Waitaha tohunga Te Maiharoa is the only person to have swum the lake and escaped the taniwha.

Takapo has served as a mahinga kai for South Canterbury Ngāi Tahu. There are a number of urupā associated with the lake.

Nick Karaitiana wrote another explanation for the naming of Takapo, starting with the significant historical and legendary significance of area through which the Waitaki River runs from the mountains to the sea.

The Waitaki River derives its name from the words wai meaning water and taki meaning a sounding or weeping. The route up the river was frequently travelled by parties on their way to the Tai Poutini in search of pounamu. In this area they crossed to the north of the river close to where Duntroon stands today, later crossing back to the south side at the mouth of the Otematata River.

Serving for much of its length as the boundary between Canterbury and Otago, the river has its source in the Takapo and Pukaki Rivers which are fed by the seven lakes: Lakes Takapo, Pukaki, Ohou, Te Kapaururu, Te Oteote, Otauwhiti and Whakapapa.

The northernmost of these great lakes is Takapo; its correct name Karaitiana tells us is Takapotiri.

“My Arai-te-uru relatives told me that Takapotiri was the son of Tane-mahuta the forest god, and was the tutelary deity of the kaka, kakapo, kea and tarepo birds. I believe that Parliament decided that Takapo was the correct spelling, but as we all know, the general public still continues to call it Tekapo.

“Opposite Takapo is Lake Pukaki, a word which means ‘a great swelling or choking in a throat’. This name refers to the time when the water comes rushing down in the flood season, and there isn't room to contain it. (The word pukaki can also mean a source, as of a river).

“Ohou is a lake slightly to the south-west of Pukaki. It is now called Lake Ohau, but according to my people this is incorrect. However though I have heard the name Ohou mentioned by the elders, no-one seems to know much about it. Possibly the name comes from one of the tribes who were the first to arrive here-that is Ngapuhi te Aitanga, Te Rapuwai, Waitaha, Hotumamoe, and later on the Tahupotiki or Ngāi Tahu”.

It was not until the 1850’s that the first Europeans ventured into the Mackenzie basin, the first in 1855 being James Mackenzie the alleged but pardoned sheep stealer, who the region is named after. Within the next few years after the discovery of adjacent Burkes Pass vast areas of the inland plain were applied for and the original runs around Lake Tekapo taken up. In April 1857 a run totalling 15,000 acres of the original Tekapo station was taken up by John Hay and run 173 totalling 10,000 acres by his uncle Ebenezer Hay. There were still several raupo huts nearby.

Karaitiana recalled:

It was in the Waitaki area also that the last remnants of this ancient race were hunted and driven from their homes by mounted constabulary and runholders armed with guns. There had long been disputes about the ownership of the upper Waitaki valley, the Māori owners claiming that they had sold to the Pākēha only the land in sight of the coast. In 1877 a group of about 150 Māori went to live on the bleak, swampy flats at Omarama in order to demonstrate their rights to the surrounding country.

But two years later they were driven out by the armed constabulary and it was only through the timely intervention of Ihaia Tainui, Member of Parliament for Southern Māori, that bloodshed was avoided.

It was the middle of winter. Snow was falling, and it was bitterly cold. With their carts and drays, the small group of Waitaha began the long, painful trek to the mouth of the river, where they still owned a few acres. One can well imagine the feelings of their old chief and tohunga Maiharoa as he passed through the tribal camping ground of Maukatipua and climbed to the top of the Otematakou Saddle. The last of the ancient lineage of the chiefs of Waitaha, he looked back, deprived of his birthright, at the lands where for remote ages his people had hunted, fought and died. Slowly he turned his back on those great mountains and valleys, and with a sad heart began the long journey to the coast.

Nick Karaitiana writings retrieved from http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao52TeA/c18.html

Further information retrieved from http://ecan.govt.nz/publications/General/TekapoManagementPlan09.pdf