On a coastal journey in 1846 with Māori guides, Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy recorded a Māori potato garden near here. Further remarks suggested that the place was not yielding a good harvest. Heaphy, the artist of the expedition, revealed in his journal that one purpose of the garden was land speculation.
In 1862 James Crowe Richmond visited Westport and painted the scene below. It looks across forested Martins Island to distant Mt Rochfort. Although the exact site of the pātaka is unknown, we are able to roughly line up the painting with today’s view of Mt Rochfort. It is possible potatoes were stored in the pātaka, especially as the lower Kawatiri River was prone to flood. Poutini Ngāi Tahu had their own species of potatoes, and following European arrival grew newly-introduced varieties. They were skilled gardeners and produce traders, with established inter-island and international trade relationships.
Kawatiri was a key stopping place on the well-travelled pounamu trail between the Arahura River and Golden Bay, and beyond to other parts of New Zealand. The food bounty of the river and estuary was well known to those who plied the trade routes. The mouth of the Whakapoāi/Heaphy River, to the north of here, was another key stopping place. For over 500 years, Māori paddled and sailed along the West Coast to trade, gather food and socialise.
Pātaka were essential to store food in a dry, dark place, away from rodents, ground-dwelling birds and floodwaters. Typically stored were weka, kākā and kererū, preserved in fat within harakeke/flax baskets. Māori paddled up river to the inland seasonal campsites of Orikaka and Oweka (the lower Inangahua River), returning loaded with preserved birds. Dried fish and tuna/eel were also stored in pātaka.
Due to the bounty of nature here at the Kawatiri, trading fleets who, paddled their waka into the shelter of the river mouth lagoon, were guaranteed a well-catered rest and recuperation.
The Cache
A 15 minute walk along the newly opened Kawatiri Coastal Trail from the Buller Bridge to Carters Beach