"Whakarewarewa at Rotorua" Rotorua by seagoingJLW

Rotorua is one of the most famous destinations in New Zealand. The nearby geothermal hotspots offer spouting geysers, bubbling mudpools, and colorful geothermal pools and ponds.

It is also the heartland of the Maori culture.

There are eleven major lakes in the area.

Geyser at Whakarewarewa

The people of Te Arawa were the guardians of the thermal region of New Zealand. This right came from the early exploration of Ngatoroirangi - the famous Tohunga (spiritual leader) of the Arawa canoe. The spouting hot geysers, the mud pools and the volcanic fire are all the result of Ngatoroirangi and his actions.

Ngatoroirangi left his first landing spot of Maketu on the coast and travelled south and inland. While he rested one day on the eastern side of Lake Taupo, the clouds rolled away and he caught sight of the gleaming beauty of Mount Tongariro. He was overwhelmed by its majesty and he ached to climb its summit. After travelling closer, he ordered his companions to stay put while he and his slave, Aruhoe climbed the virgin peak. He said 'This is a hazardous venture, and if, I am to return safely, you who remain must heed my words well. Eat no food. This will give me the strength I need and the gods will stay with me. When I return we will feast together and I will tell you of the things I learn from the mountain.' Indeed the journey was hazardous. The snowy air froze their breath and iced their fingers, numbed their toes and stiffened their joints. The slave, Aruhoe stumbled many times but Ngatoroirangi urged him onward. Meanwhile, those waiting at the mountain's feet grew weary and hungry. 'He may have perished and we wait in vain', said one. 'Hunger is an impatient thing,' said another. So, with sidelong glances at the mountain, they lit their cooking fires and ate. But with their actions, the cold drove its icy fingers into Ngatoroirangi's heart. He bent over in agony caused by the stabbing cold and prayed to his sisters in Hawaiki (the original home of all Maori which they left to come to New Zealand) ' Send fire to warm me?' he cried. 'Do not delay or I will surely perish. Oh Kuiwai, Oh Haungaroa came quickly. Ka riro au I te tonga?" (I am carried away by the cold south wind). Far off in Hawaiki, his sisters heard his prayer. They called to the fire demons Te Pupu and Te Hoata, who plunged into the sea and swam quickly until they came to Whakaari (White Island as the fiery inferno off the Eastern Bay of Plenty is known to the European). As they lifted their heads in to the air, the earth burst in to flames which have never died down. They saw as they rose, that they still had many miles to go to reach Ngatoro. Down they went once more into the seas and a steaming bubbling wake they left in their path. At Moutohora they surfaced once more, at Okakaru, Rotoehu, Rotoiti, Rotorua, Tarawera, Orakei Korako and Taupo. At each place they popped up, flames left throughout the surface. The tunnel they made forever more connected Tongariro to White Island. Like a flash of lightening the demons burst through the enormous pyramid of Tongariro arriving as Ngatoroirangi lay on the edge of death.
While the slave Aruhoe had succumbed to death already, Ngatoroirangi was slowly revived by the volcanic heat created by the demons. The warmth spread through his veins sending life to his muscle and bone. After gaining his strength, Ngatoroirangi took the body of his slave, Aruhoe and threw it to the crater. The place has since been known as Ngaruahoe. And so it is that volcanic and thermal activity came to the region and the Arawa tribes became its guardian.

Lake Rotorua

CREATION

Heaven and earth were once joined. Ranginui the Sky father and heavens and Papatuanuku the earth mother held each other in tight embrace. They had many children who, lost in the darkness between their parents began to wonder how it would be to live in light. They talked amongst themselves whether it would be better to slay their parents or push them apart. First spoke Tumatauenga, the fiercest of Rangi and Papa's children; 'Let's slay them' he suggested. Then spoke Tane Mahuta; 'No, it is best that we push them apart to let the heaven stand well above us and the earth lie under our feet. Let the sky become like a stranger and the earth remain close to us as our nursing mother'.
All the brothers agreed to this except Tawhirimatea, the father of winds and storms, and he, fearing that his kingdom was about to be overthrown, grieved at the thought that his parents were to be wrenched apart.

The others put thier plan in to action. First Rongomatane, the god of the cultivated food and crops of man rose up and pushed at his parents to part them. Next Tangaroa, the god of sea and reptiles rose up and he too pushed at his parents to part them. Haumiatiketike was next. The god and father of food that grows without cultivation tried also but without effect. Each tried in vain. Tumatauenga the god of fierce human beings struggled to do the same. Lastly, the god of forests and birds and insects tried to part his parents. He paused. He planted his head firmly on his mother earth, Papatuanuku. His feet he stretched upward to the sky father, Ranginui. With all the strength of his legs and back he forced and pushed and struggled to wrench them free from each other. With each tear, Rangi and Papa cried out with grief and pain, frightened by separation.

No sooner had earth and heaven parted, than the multitudes of human beings created within the darkness were discovered.

Then also, within the god of winds and storms, Tawhirimatea, the one who had wanted to keep his parents together began to build a fierce desire to wage war on his brothers. This god of hurricanes also dreads that the world become too beautiful. So, he ascended to his father and dispatched his children to the four ends of creation and so became the four winds. Up until today the earth mother, Papatuanuku and Sky father, Ranginui are separated. Yet their love continues and their grief is ongoing. The soft warm sighs of Papatuanuku and her loving bosom ever still rise up to meet him, ascending from the woody mountains and valleys. These sighs, men call mist. And from the vast heaven, through the long nights of separation from this beloved, Ranginui drops frequent tears upon his wife's bosom, and men seeing these, term them dew drops.