Wednesday 28 December 2005 – Lake Rotoiti to Te Kaha
Trip: Lake Rotoiti – Kawearu – Te Teko – Awakeri Springs – Whakatane –
Ohope – Wainui – Cheddar Valley – Katarere – Opotiki – Tirohanga – Opape –
Torere – Hawai – Houpoto – Whitianga – Omaio – Awamui – Hariki Beach –
Te Kaha – Waikawa Point – Whanaroa Bay – Raukokore - Waihau Bay –
Whangapararoa – Potaka – Hicks Bay – Tokata – Te Araroa – Horoera –
East Cape (Lighthouse) – Hororera – Te Araroa – Tokata – Hicks Bay – Potaka –
Whangapararoa – Waihau Bay – Raukokore – Whanaroa Bay – Waikawa Point – Te Kaha
End Mileage: 173293
Start Mileage: 172879
Distance Travelled: 414
Left the lake about 11am after a huge cooked breakfast – hmm, don’t think
the large cooked breakfasts will occur every day, which is probably a good thing!
Then again it did mean we left a bit later than originally planned but what the
heck, who are we to turn down home made French Toast, Bacon and Coffee!
We drove to Whakatane back past Lake Rotoma and then off on the bypass (SH34) to go
via Kawerau. We got to Whakatane at 12:15pm and stopped for walk and oh, ok, a
coffee (at The Bean – great coffee, clean and tidy toilets). Walked through town
rather than drive down the main drag – lots of cars and people who didn’t seem to
know how to drive properly! It seemed amazingly busy in down town Whakatane.
| Pohaturoa rock in Whakatane:
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Pohaturoa
In ancient times, Pohaturoa was born through the union of Tane and Hunetuparimaunga,
known as Te Kahu ki Uta. Ngati Awa’s spiritual, physical and ancestral connection
as tangat whenua is to Pohaturoa.
Ngati Awa have always performed ceremonies of birth, death, war and other important
matters at Pohaturoa. In earlier times its higher levels served as repository shelves
for the bones of the distinguished dead. The archway in the rock which was once a cave
is called Te Arikirau. Here, the tribal tohunga would perform the moko (tattoo) rituals.
The Waiewe Stream, which now flows beneath Pohaturoa, was used to initiate young warriors
into manhood and baptismal rituals were performed upon children of high rank.
The present karaka tress, that stand on the north side of Pohaturoa, are said to be
descendants o the trees brought here by the Mataatua waka.
This is “Pohaturoa” (the rock). On 16 June 1840 Ngati Pukeko chiefs signed the Treaty of
Waitangi at a place near the western side of Pohaturoa. Each year on the same date, Ngati
Awa descendants celebrate the signing and recognise its importance with a dawn ceremony.
In July 1920, Pohaturoa became the Whakatane Borough’s official war memorial to the men
who fell in the great World War of 1914 to 1918. At the front of the lawn facing Pohaturoa
stands a memorial for Te Hurinui Apanu, paramount chief of Ngati Aea who died on 24 May 1924.
Today Pohaturoa rock remains an important landmark to all members of the Whakatane community.
This natural feature adds to the unique character of the township and is regarded as a symbol
of peace between Maori and Pakeha, merging the past, present and future, blending the old
world with the new.
We went for a walk along by the marina as well and Racing Rabbit came with us to
check out the views.
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Found the bronze statue of Wairaka at the entrance to the marina. The statue
commemorates her courageous defiance of tradition which not only saved the
Mataatua waka but gave the town and district its name.
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Coast road on the way to Ohope. We made it there
about 1:20pm. We couldn’t find a Mobile station in Whakatane to luckily
found one in Ohope and then off to Opotiki.
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| We got to Opotiki by 2:35pm and we kept going as
the plan was for us to stop the night at the Te Kaha camp site (well we’d
booked and paid so may as well stay there). We made it to Te Kaha just
before 4pm, confused the owner by saying “Hi we are here, we will be back,
off to the Cape now, see you later on”. We wanted to go to the East Cape
Lighthouse so by making today a slightly longer day it’ll mean tomorrow,
which is going to be a fair drive; we don’t need to do the extra hour or
so to go out to the Cape. So, off we went – East Cape Lighthouse here
we come:
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Saw a lot of signs for wandering stock but the
only “stock” we did see were 2 adult pig dogs and about 5 puppies running
around on the road near one of the many beaches, a few kids as well but
they were on the road side as opposed to the road itself. Mind you actually
seeing the “Cows Crossing” on a skateboard would have been, hmmm,
“interesting”.
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Fairly straight forward road choice from here – SH35 on the East Cape.
Stopped at a lovely old wooden church – “Te Pihopatanga O Aotearoa”
on the coast road. (“Raukokore Nau Mai Haere Mai”)
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Cemetery behind the church.
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Along SH35, past Hicks Bay and then we took the turn off from
Te Araroa on to “town” the main drag (“main” being a loose term)
and then to Horoera and a narrow, windy gravel road to the Cape.
Lovely chubbly in the camper but not a problem (well Rex was
driving so I didn’t see any problem with that). We got to the
lighthouse carpark just on 6pm so then off for a walk up to the
lighthouse, the car park only being the start of the whole thing.
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There really is a lighthouse in the distance on the top of the hill.
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Really, just how far UP can it be! The lighthouse walk is up (and up and up) a
private track that is really well maintained but basically it’s a set of
stairs – there isn’t much flat walking but all the steps are well laid out.
At least the steps are “normal size” and not made for long legs! (Got to the
step marked number “300” and a few on there was one with the words “half way”!)
The total came to 716 steps. Well worth it though, an awesome view from up
there. The walk up took us about 20 – 25 minutes and about 20 to walk down so we
were back at the car park by 7pm. Time allowed up the top for recovery and gazing
at the view, and oh, a couple of photos…
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The Lighthouse itself.
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The view from the lighthouse - those 716 steps were well worth it.
East Cape Lighthouse
The light shone for the first time on the 9th of August 1900 on East
Island, just off the tip of East Cape. Years of earthquakes saw the
steep cliffs on the island progressively slip into the sea, and in 1922
it was decided to shift the lighthouse to its present site.
The cast-iron tower stands 14 metres high and 154 metres above sea level.
The light flashes once every 10 seconds and can be seen up to 19 nautical
miles (35 kilometres).
The 50-watt lamp operates on mains electricity with a battery for stand by
power. The original lens revolved around a 1000-watt lamp supplied by mains
electricity with a diesel generator for standby power. This lens was removed
in 2002 and can be seen in the base of the tower.
The light was fully automated in 1985 and the lighthouse keeper withdrawn.
The operation of the light is now completely automatic and is monitored
by a computer and Maritime NZ staff in Wellington.
...and the Lighthouse from the Carpark.
Then back along the road to Te Kaha, we made it back there by 9pm
so not too late, the owner was still up and happily let us in!
Tim was great – friendly and recovered from our earlier “Hi, we’ll
be back, bye” visit. Had a walk around the camp site, nice and tidy.
Most of the actual sites are marked out by hedges so that offers a bit
of privacy. Tired but clean ablution block.
So our first Camper Dinner was chicken, salad, wine (surprise – NOT).
We (well Rex) did the cooking in the camp site kitchen but we ate in
the camper, saves on cooking aromas in the camper overnight, hmmm –
YUM not.
We then did the shower thing so could get away first thing next
morning without having to wait as there were only 3 showers in the
females and 3 in the male block. Then into bed by about 11:45pm so
a bit late but it was an awesome day. There was even rain overnight
but it wasn’t heavy enough to keep us awake. So we didn’t really
experience much of life at the Te Kaha camp site since we got there so
late and left first thing the next day. Seemed like an ok place – mind
you glad we didn’t stay too long due to moaning children being yelled at
by their parents in the site behind ours on Thursday morning.
BILITY at the camp site at Te Kaha, hiding in the hedges.
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The view from BILITY, oh look, a hedge!
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Links
East Cape and Feilding index page
BILITY home page
Whakatane
