The Tuia Mātauranga Pōkai Whenua GeoTour follows the footsteps of early explorers of Aotearoa New Zealand taking you to places where leaders of the past searched for food, resources and ways to adapt and survive in this new land.
Use the Pōkai Whenua GeoTour as your classroom to explore the stories of the past, in the present, to preserve what is unique in Aotearoa New Zealand for the future.
Collect the codewords to get the Geocoin puzzle piece.
To be able to complete this GeoTour and receive your special Geocoin collectable, remember to take a note of the codeword placed in the cache. This will need to be recorded in your passport which can be downloaded here.
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"63 of the 150 Pōkai Whenua GeoTour caches will contain a randomly placed special FTF token (a replica of the Tuia Mātauranga GeoTour commemorative coin). This is yours to keep! If you find more than one, you might consider leaving it for the next person who finds the cache."
DISCOVERY: According to Māori legend, the lands in our region were discovered in about the 14th century by an intrepid Te Arawa explorer named Ihenga. He gave names to many of the places he visited. After journeying from Maketu he named the river, Kaituna, because of its plentiful supply of eels. After a solid trek inland, he saw a lake and named it Rotoiti – from his vantage point, it looked like a small lake. (We now know that Rotoiti is a sizeable lake.) He came to a fast moving body of water. Eager to explore, one of his dogs went into the water and drowned. The name of the dog became the name of the waterway, Ōhau. At the head of this waterway, Ihenga discovered a large lake. He named it Te Rotorua nui a Kahumatamoemoe – The second lake of Kahumatamoemoe (named after his uncle).
Ihenga noticed steam rising at the southern end of the lake. He thought that this was the rising vapour of cooking fires. He believed the land to be inhabited, but was surprised to discover that this was actually thermal activity. In time, others would journey to this very location and a kāinga (village) would develop around this geothermal hotspot. The name of this village was Ōhinemutu. Coincidentally, the village was named by Ihenga. His daughter was murdered here – Ōhinemutu means ‘the girl that was cut off.’
ŌHINEMUTU: THE GATEWAY TO TOURISM: The Thermal Springs District was fast becoming a tourism destination and Ōhinemutu stood at the gateway to it all. But what was this village like in the mid-1800s? Ōhinemutu was predominantly a Māori settlement with a haphazard collection of European style hotels and shops. As the burgeoning tourism industry took off, there was local concern about land, particularly as demand for more arose. Clearly, Ngāti Whakaue were against selling, and they were certainly reluctant to just give it away.
ENTER THE CROWN: Politicians as well as businessmen seized on the idea of exploiting New Zealand’s thermal resources. In the summer of 1874 politician William Fox toured the central North Island regions. He was so struck by their potential that he wrote to Premier Julius Vogel, recommending their development. Fox claimed that the pools would attract both invalids and tourists. Either way, they could in his opinion become a source of great wealth to the country. Naturally, the Crown showed a particular interest in the lands owned by Ngāti Whakaue.
Francis Dart Fenton. Original photographic prints and postcards from the file print collection, Box 17. Ref: PAColl-7489-01. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22424556
Chief Judge Frances Dart Fenton of the Native Land Court was directed by the Government to open dialogue with local iwi in 1877. He came with a proposal to establish a new township. With this proposal, the Crown would preserve access to natural thermal wonders in the district and halt any problems and arguments regarding land. Fenton returned in 1880 and began the formalities of setting out a contract.
Group of men, possibly at a Land Court meeting, inside Tamatekapua meeting house at Ohinemutu. Ref: 1/2-043266-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22557733
THE CONTRACT: In 1880, 295 members of Ngāti Whakaue entered into a contract with the Crown to set aside land and establish a new township. This contract became known as the “Fenton Agreement.” The main points of the agreement were:
- Ngāti Whakaue would gift land to the Crown for recreation, sanatoriums, railways, hospitals and other amenities.
- The Crown would have control of thermal areas.
- Māori would retain ownership of their land and receive perpetual income through 99-year leases.
As stated, Ngāti Whakaue would not sell their land without testing the market, but they did gift 20 hectares of land at Sulphur Point to the Crown. However, under the Thermal Springs Districts Act 1881, an area could be declared a thermal springs district where only the government could purchase land. Private ventures – including those run by Māori were encouraged, but public interests took priority.
The total area of land included in the new township was around 12 square kilometres. It ran from the “west end of Te Pukeroa to Puarenga Stream and from Lake Rotorua up to the mountains, excluding the native village of Ōhinemutu”.
CONTRACT BREACHED: The Fenton Agreement began to unravel soon after the 1886 Tarawera eruption. Tourism went into a natural decline and many leaseholders defaulted. The system suddenly put Māori into a position of weakness. In the early 1890s, the Crown compulsorily purchased the leasehold land. This was a breach of the Crown’s obligations under the Fenton Agreement. In effect, the Government became owners of Rotorua, and they held that control until 1993.
SETTLEMENT: It was not until 1993, that the people of Ngāti Whakaue reached an agreement with the Crown to settle their contract grievance (known as Claim WAI 94). As part of the Settlement Agreement, the Crown agreed to a process whereby it would return the gifted lands that were no longer required for their original use. The Crown transferred ownership of the railway reserves to Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust (the entity mandated to receive the reserves back on behalf of Ngāti Whakaue).
A considerable area of land gifted to the Crown for reserve purposes under the Fenton Agreement was not included in the 1993 Settlement Agreement. Kuirau Park, the Rotorua Public Cemetery and Government Gardens are a few examples of excluded reserves. In 1996, Rotorua Lakes Council and Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust agreed to protocol for the use and management of the excluded reserves. This protocol requires Council to obtain the consent in writing of Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust before it changes the status of the excluded reserves or takes steps to dispose of them. If the excluded reserves cease to be used for their original purpose then they should be returned to Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust (unless there is agreement otherwise).
THE CACHE: The cache is a camouflaged film cannister. It is a log only cache so bring your own pen/cil. It is hidden in a reserve that was formerly part of the Railway Reserves. Please take care when approaching ground zone. There are some factors to consider:
1. Parking - Amohau Street is a four-lane throughfare with parking on the shoulder. If you choose to cross this busy road, exercise caution and cross with care.
2. There is a deep, narrow ditch running alongside the road. Look for the designated entry point.
3. There is land development nearby, but this should not impact accessing the cache at the moment.
4. As with all caches in the Rotorua CBD, stealth is expected. People may be watching without you suspecting a thing.