Opunake Railway Cottage

The cottage is a writers' and artists' retreat. This page is for those who use the cottage.

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Here is our lake - a great place to walk. The lake is two-minutes walk from the cottage. There is easy access to several ocean beaches. It is a five-minute walk to Opunake Beach and to Middleton Bay. The artificial surf reef is at Opunake Beach. In the picture, you can see the mountain beyond the lake.

This historic cottage is one of the original railway houses built in 1925 when the railway opened. It is made of concrete blocks and plastered. Iron roof. The front entrance to this house is typical of all those houses. They were built by railways engineers. The cottages were not made of wood because there was probably not any wood available. However, the station was wooden and it remains in a destitute state today. Although the station was not built, the Right Hon. Gordon Coates PM opened the line in 1925 which was, coincidentally, election year.

The money to develop New Zealand's railways was secured by New Zealand's only Jewish Prime Minister Sir Julius Vogel (1835–1899). Vogel (pictured) raised the money on the London money market and Maori made land available. He had a strong interest in regional development. His portrait hangs in the cottage.

The Opunake Railway Station before it was closed on 31 July 1976.
The last station master, Leo Wilson, may be seen in his shorts.
To the extreme left of the picture are the railway houses.

"Opunake" means the prow of a canoe. It is the place where the canoe touches the beach.

The cottage is "secluded", meaning it has no view and the neighbours are a distance away. There is a glimpse of the mountain. The picture shows Colin and Anna camping in the grounds, 2008. Children's playhouse. Fenced. Two bedrooms, equipped office, dining room. Sleeps 6. Wood burner with wood. Broadband and telephone connection. Cell reception good. Table tennis, swing ball, badminton.Kayak, basic ride on type, with hand cart, wet suits and life jackets.

Surf reef Opuanke beach

The beach is deserted for most of the year. Winter.

World War I memorial above the beach. The Opunake Walkway is seven miles long and runs right along the coast at Opunake. There are historic sites, including graves and this memorial.

Opunake Wharf, 1927. You will be able to see the remains.

This indicates land contours. Opunake is the result of volcanic activity. You can see this in the geological features.The volcano was last active about 200 years ago. This cottage is 4 hours drive north of Wellington and 6 hours from Auckland. About 45 minutes drive to New Plymouth which is a major provincial city with a hospital.   Important and well known People There have been two important people born in Opunake: Mary Hickey and Jacquie Papuni. Both female, both known by names other than those they had at birth, and both retiring of nature. For some reason Opunake mainly commemorates the wrong people. Some well known people with involvement in Opunake are Peter Snell who lived in two houses in Opunake including 14 Dorset Street (he is today a charming American academic who ran fast setting eight world records, and who is evidently worthy of a statue on the main street), Jim Bolger (a farmer, born 1935, raised on Opuratu Road, Rahotu, became a mundane National Party Prime Minister, and is now a safe non-political appointment to boards of all kinds), and two All Blacks. Don Clark (1933-2002), known as "The Boot" because of his goal kicking ability, lived as a child at Pihama. He and his brother Ian Clark were All Blacks. Eventually, Don went to live in South Africa where he established a tree felling business. Associated with Opunake is Ernest Rutherford. He is important but not closely associated with Opunake. He changed nitrogen into oxygen and thereby "split" the atom at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University. Even before that demonstration he had become a Lord for his contributions to physics. The Rutherford family had a flax mill outside of Opunake at Pungarehu (left). James Rutherford, took the family there in 1888 when Ernest was 17 years of age. The previous year Rutherford won a Marlborough Scholarship to Nelson College, and he attend that school until he attended Canterbury College, University of New Zealand, in Christchurch. Also associated with Opunake is the writer Graeme Lay (born 1944, Foxton) who lived at 31 Ihaia Road. Likewise, Dame Malvina Major lived as a child on a farm on the Lower Kina Road near Opunake. Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III (1830-1907) the celebrated pacifist was born at Pungarehu, and lived at Parihaka.   Mary Hickey Dr Mary Hickey (Mother Mary St Domitille OBE) was born in Opunake of Irish parents. She was the first pakeha child born in Opuanke. She was born in a thatched whare on 13 April 1882, about where the Cottage Rest Home is today. She was an important person in New Zealand education, and an important historian. Mary's father was J C Hickey, who joined the Armed Constabulary about the time Te Whiti had gone to Taranaki.Her mother was an assisted immigrant under the Vogel scheme, who arrived in New Zealand on the ship The City of Auckland in 1878. The ship was later wrecked at Otaki. Mary's parents met in Wellington, married in New Plymouth, and settled on a small farm in Opunake. Mary was the youngest of eleven children. At the age of about 18 years she was a pupil-teacher at Opuanke School. She attended the school from 1887 to 1895. Subsequently, she taught and was a pupil in New Plymouth, and taught at Stratford District High School. In 1905 she joined the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions at Christchurch (the Order of Notre Dame des Missions). In the same year she taught at Sacred Heart High School and then attended Canterbury College which was a part of the University of New Zealand. Dr Hickey wrote New Zealand history and on topics in education. She produced journal material for use in Catholic schools. In 1921, she wrote a history, first published in installments by the Opunake Times, then as a book: A Graphic Outline of the Great War: Deeds that Saved the Empire, and this was used as a text in the colleges where the Sisters taught. Mother St Domitille was an innovator in education. On a visit to England in 1925 (to attend the Chapter of the Congregation), she met Madame Montessori and was greatly impressed, and so on her return she introduced to New Zealand the Montessori method of education. Mother St Domitille was principal of Sacred Heart College, Christchurch, for over 20 years. Mother St Domitille was the first woman in Australasia to gain a Doctorate in Literature, which was awarded in for her thesis on the early history of Canterbury. She died on the 20 June 1958, quite suddenly, on her way to chapel for evening prayer.   The Opunake Thrush - Jacquie Papuni (Sturm) Opunake's most important person may be the writer Jacqueline Cecilia Sturm who died in late 2009 and is now buried at Opunake. She was the first Maori to write a novel in English, although two were published before her book (Witi Ihimaera and Patricia Grace). She was born in Opunake in 1927 and spent her early life there. In 2003 Jacquie Baxter (also known as J.C. Sturm) received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Victoria University of Wellington. She lived at Paekakariki towards the end of her life, having retired from 23 years working at the Wellington Public library. Jacquie was the second daughter of Mary and Jack Papuni. Jack was of Whakatohea (an eastern Bay of Plenty iwi) and Mary was of the Taranaki iwi. Mary was 20 years of age when Jacquie was born and she died of septicaemia days after the birth. This was common in the rural parts of New Zealand at the time. Jacquie wrote of that time, which was probably in the maternity ward of the Opunake Cottage Hospital that had opened in 1922: Grave in the old Opunake cemetery. The mother of a great New Zealand writer. Fifteen interminable days Of dirty surgery Medical negligence And unattended pain ( that robbed her of the chance to learn to) walk Holding your hand, To talk like you Calling you mummy, To know your ways And those of the old people. (Anniversary Day) After Mary Papuni's death, Jack was distraught and took his eldest daughter to his mother in the Bay of Plenty, whist Jacquie was left behind in Taranaki to be raised by her maternal grandmother. As a baby Jacquie suffered weeping eczema and was treated with both European and Maori herbal medicine. The nurses assistant (Nurse Wehipeihana), Mrs Ethel Sturm, came to adopt Jacquie and when the girl was two years old. Jacquie and the Nurse lived in Gisborne Terrace, the very street where the cottage is located. Further, she lived in a railway cottage, although it is uncertain which one. Bert Sturm was in part descended from Ngati Porou although the family was not closely associated with a Maori way of life. He owned and managed a successful fruit and produce market. And so it came to be that Jacquie was raised until she was six years of age in Opunake during the time of New Zealand's great economic depression. Apparently looking for work her family moved away from Opunake when Jacquie was six. Her academic ability was obvious from an early age, and an Anglican Bishop took a personal interest in Jackie's schooling. Jackie attended Palmerston North Girls' High School and then Napier Girls' High School. Jackie remembers her foster parents and the tug of her being Maori: ... planted, nurtured Trained, pruned, grafted me only to find a native plant Will always a native be. How being out of step, place, time, joint in time becomes a preference Not a pain, hardly matters now. ( In Loco Parentis) In 1945, at eighteen years of age, Jackie began a Medical Intermediate course at Otago University. This was a part of a Department of Health scheme to obtain more Maori doctors. Health management in those days was as inept as today. Jacquie did not aspire to being a doctor and soon turned to other studies. Jacquie was one of the first Maori women to receive a degree when she completed her BA at Canterbury University in 1948. She had begun her studies at Otago University College but moved to Canterbury to study social anthropology under Professor Sutherlland.She married James Keir Baxter in 1948. Two years later Jacquie was the first Maori woman to complete a masters degree from the University of New Zealand, at Victoria University College. This was in the Philosophy Department and her eminently readable thesis of 94 pages is entitled New Zealand National Character as Exemplified by Three New Zealand Novelists. The three novelists are Frank Sargeson, John Mulgan, and Dan Davin. Family relationships and emotional relationships between men are explored. As a part of the study she conducted a survey of authors. Jacquie's short stories and poems were published particularly in the 1950s and early 1960s. "The House of the Talking Cat" was the first book written by a Maori in English. "Dedications" is about the people in her life, and "Postscript" is because she had more to say after "Dedications".        J C Sturm wrote reviews for Te Au Hou (The New World), including this one published in April 1955:     James Baxter (1926-1972), one of New Zealand's most controversial figures and a significant poet, knew Opunake. He converted to the Anglican Church around the time when he married Jacquie (9 December 1948). Two children, Hilary born 1949 and John born 1952. Apparently, Baxter's conversion to Catholicism around 1958 and his re-baptism dismayed Jacquie who was a committed Anglican. Later she wrote a poem about how she might have been more tolerant when he patched his coat with symbols she did not understand. Baxter wrote many poems to people, particularly to his wife. For example, To Jacquie, 1960: Statesman, prophet, dancer, On their high tightrope walk. A few fire-hardened verses Shaped by a tomahawk May help in an hour of storm To hold the great tent firm. And if it should blow over As it has done before, Let us go and plant together A hedge of sycamore. That windy scent will rise and grow Beyond the fire, beyond the snow.  In one of his poems, Baxter mentions of the song of the Opunake Thrush. You may like to think of Jacquie as the Opunake Thrush. This was certainly not the reference in Baxter's poem, he remembered how the thrust sings. The real singing voice of Opunake is however J C Sturm.   These birds still sing with vigor today. Well the thrush might sing, for I have yet to see a Tui at Opunake. When the farmers cleared the native bush they displaced the native birds.   Jerusalem on the Wanganui River, the place where Baxter retreated in 1969 and is now buried is a two-hour drive from the cottage. A boulder marks Baxter's grave which is on Maori tribal land. It is inscribed: HEMI / JAMES KEIR BAXTER / I WHANAU 1926 / I MATE 1972 A photograph of Jackie and the grave is at http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/grave-james-k-baxter The face that began as a wee girl in a railway house in Gisborne Terrace at Opunake. Of all the historic sites at Opuanke, indeed in Aotearoa, the graves of Jackie, her mother and her grandmother, must rank.Opunake has every reason to be very proud of its important person. The pictures below are from the Urupa which belongs to the Orimupiki Marae, and is between the lake and sea:   The Opunake harbour Maori in 1860 had a clear view on the ownership of the Opunake harbour, and wrote to the Taranaki Herald according: "... that will be wrong ... we will not be responsible ... (if a ship enters) it will be aggression on the part of the Europeans". But for the incompetence of local government, The Port of Opunake would have become the major port for the Taranaki region. Instead, New Plymouth advanced itself whilst Opunake floundered around. There are many shipwrecks around Opunake. For example, the Lord Worsley was wrecked on rocks near Te Namu at 1.30 am on 1 September 1862. Watercolour by John Gully Wreck of the Lord Worsley, 1862 You will be able to stand on the very spot where this was painted. The Lord Worsley was a Royal Mail Steamer, that carried 31 passengers (including about 6 children) in addition to the 35 crew. Everyone came ashore at daybreak. There was some excitement over the four cases of gold the ship carried which was consigned to the Bank of New Zealand. Wiremu Kingi (Moki) Matakatea (the leading chief at Te Namu pa, see picture below), supporting the Europeans, fought off other Maori who sought to plunder the ship. Another Maori, George Taylor, ultimately recovered the stolen gold. The documents cited below are lodged in the Auckland War Memorial Museum. MEMORANDUM: No. 185 34 Wellington: 24th October 1882 From: The Secretary, Marine Department, Wellington To: The Signalman, Opunake With reference to your letter of the 17th instant in which you represent that the signalman's house should be near the station, and offer to build a house if the Department provides the site and material, I have to state that your representation will be considered when the trade of the Port increases. William Seed MEMORANDUM: Wellington: 10th March 18?? From: Secretary, Marine Department, Wellington To Signalman, Opunake Sir As the shipping trade to Opunake does not appear to justify the expenditure for a Signal Station at that Port, I have been directed by the Minister having charge of this Department to inform you that your services as Signalman will not be required after the 30th April next. Further instructions will be given to your as to the disposal of the Government property in your charge. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant Sirus? A S ? Wilson? for Secretary Shipping markers The remaining shipping marker (left) is constructed of totara planks and was built some time before 1890. Someone wrote: " Just to the north of the present pavilion stood a pylon, which, when lined up with another pylon on the cliff, marked the approach of vessels coming to tie up at the old jetty. At the southern end of the beach stood a boat-shed for the surf boats which used to take cargoes of dairy produce, flax, and fungi to vessels lying off shore.” The lower picture is of the shipping marker on the beach as it was in the 1920s. Today one shipping marker still stands on the cliff-top and is worth a quick visit. A few more pictures

Current surf report: http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/OpunakeBeach.1to3.shtml

The place to eat. Basic food at an excellent price.

http://www.newplymouthnz.com/VisitingNewPlymouth/TransportAndMaps/SouthlinkBusService.htm
There is a regular bus service.

Ski field (winter) & mountain walks (summer)

   
To access the Manganui Ski Area, and the Visitor Centre, from the cottage,
drive down Ihaia Road and then go around the mountain to the right.
Allow half an hour to drive slowly to the ski field.

Snow report and avalanche danger http://www.skitaranaki.co.nz/Snow+Report/default.aspx

Local ski lodges. That on the left when it opened in 1969.
The cost of a half-day pass for the chair lift is $15.00.

Surf beaches and artificial reef

Place your mouse on the picture above to see the surf at sunset.

There are two ocean beaches within easy walking distance of the cottage. You can drive to a further seven beaches within twenty minutes(some north and some south). All these beaches are ocean beaches and hence dangerous. A surf life saving club operates at Opunake. Swim between the flags if at all possible. Do not leave small children on the beach close to the water unless you are sure you can fish them out of the sea.

Egmont National Park - bush walks

Typical stream in bush.

Visit Egmont National Park if you like bush walks. The closest mountain walk is 10 minutes drive from the cottage. Out your gate, turn left, turn left again (Ihaia Street), and keep going until you must park and walk. Walk to a DOC hut and ladder.

Moa once roamed the bush and ovens found date from the 16th century. The ovens found usually were buried under ash from eruptions. Maru was a refuge pa high on the western side of Egmont In about 1826 it was taken by Waikato Maori.

Twenty-eight native bird species and 15 introduced bird species occur regularly in the park. Threatened species include North Island brown kiwi, fernbird and blue duck.

Bird List: These birds have been found in the Egmont National Park by ornithologist Barry Hartley:
Brown Kiwi, White-faced Heron, Black Swan, Paradise Shelduck, Blue Duck, Mallard, Australasian Harrier, New Zealand Falcon, California Quail, Pukeko, Black-backed Gull, Rock Pigeon, New Zealand Pigeon, Eastern Rosella, Shining Cuckoo, Long-tailed Cuckoo, Morepork, Sacred Kingfisher, Rifleman, Welcome Swallow, New Zealand Pipit, Dunnock, Common Blackbird, Song Thrush, Fernbird, North Island Fantail, North Island Tomtit, Whitehead, Grey Warbler, Silvereye, New Zealand Bellbird, Tui, Australian Magpie, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Redpoll, European Goldfinch, and Yellowhammer.

Below are pictures of a five hour round trip from the Cottage to the Waiaua Gorge Hut. This is a real tramp and requires good footware, food, water, and warm clothes. Take your cell phone. You may spend the night at the Hutt. The views of the bush, gorge, streams, and mountain are fantastic. Watch for goats. From the entrance adjacent to the Cottage (Melissa and Theo, December 2008):

The South Taranaki war at Opunake

Military camp at Opunake, about 1865. This was probably the camp of Von Tempsky and his Forest Rangers,
before they built the Opunake Redoubt. Von Tempsky build two redoubts,
the other was at Waihi near Hawera. It was from Waihi that he went out to fight the Hauhaus
under the leadership of Titokkowaru and was killed.

Jeanine Graham in her 1983 book Fredrick Weld says, Werre "acted on a Grey-Atkinson communication. In concert with Atkinson, he had established redoubts at Pukearuhe, thirty miles to the north of New Plymouth, and at Ware and Opunake in the south. It is likely von Tempsky was in charge of the building at Opunake. Henry James Warre was the Commanding Officer of the 57th Regiment, and he painted watercolours.

The Death of Von Tempsky at Te Ngutu o Te Manu,
watercolour by Kennett Watkins (1847-1933). To visit the battle site and historic reserve, drive a little beyond Manaia and turn left to Okaiawa (Ahipaipa Road). This picture is "romantic", meaning that it does not much reveal the true situation. Below is a less romantic sketch of a Maori ambush, this one by von Tempsky.

Major Gustavus von Tempsky (1828 - 1868) was an Prussian adventurer, artist, newspaper correspondent and soldier in New Zealand, Australia, California, Mexico and Central America. He was a skilled amateur watercolourist, who painted the New Zealand bush and the military campaign. "The Von" was a colourful character known for the use of his sword. Maori admired his warrior skills. He came to admire the Maori and acquired a common law Maori wife, who herself has an important history.

The Hauhaus were a extreme group within a larger religious congregation that opposed white domination. Von Tempsky gave control of the Opunake Redoubt to the Imperial Troops under major Goring the year before he was killed in battle.

As Cowan's history says: "It is the day after the fight. The square in the centre of the forest stockade is an amazing scene of ferocious excitement. The men with blackened faces, and all but nude, are dancing hakas and yelling war songs that can be heard a mile away. The women are screaming to each other, and running about with tomahawks in their hands; dogs are barking; children are screeching. It is a bedlam in the forest. On the ground lie the naked bodies of twenty white men, stripped by the Hauhaus, who had dragged them in from the forest where they had been left when the retreat began. Von Tempsky's body is there. The face had been hacked about with a tomahawk, the work of one of the Maori women—the natives revenge themselves ..."

Today there is no marker for this historic site. A fifty-year slice of Taranaki history is forgotten. New Zealand has yet to understand the value of history. It is a national disgrace that the site is not acknowledged. In many parts of the world they would have rebuilt the structure and attracted tourists. The site is a cliff top above where the Power Board pipeline comes through from the lake to the beach. There is even the threat of private developments adjacent to the site removing the unique and spectacular setting. (To locate the site begin at the lake and walk towards the beach.) The redoubt walls were twelve feet high and ten feet thick. As may be seen from the picture below the redoubt was at the southern end of the beach.

Extract from a text by Major E. Maxwell

"Opunake Redoubt and Encampment, where I was stationed were on level ground. The Redoubt, cookhouse, messrooms and roadway occupied the full width of the narrow neck between the edge of the cliff of Opunake Bay and the top of the slope down to the depression now occupied by the Hydro-electric lake. That depression, a wide bend in an old river course - used to be our camp gardens, potato field and oat field, the soil being rich river silt deposit and the place sheltered and under observation from the camp. The neck of land had a deep wide entrenchment right across it, with moat and parapet one-half being on the south-east side of the redoubt."

This diagram is of the Opunake Redoubt at Opunake about 1888. It is from a book entitled "Days with the Old Force" by E. Maxwell. That book itself is an extract from a larger work, "Recollections and Reflections of an old New Zealander". Maxwell was "on the staff with Colonel Roberts" of Parihaka fame (see below).

Maxwell wrote: "The present road to the beach was not made then, and the Redoubt was built close to the edge of the cliff, which was about eighty feet high. The old road to the beach was a very steep, narrow one, descending in the opposite direction, and reaching the bottom just opposite where the present one does. The Redoubt was in the main earth work - in fact in all but one corner - deep moats, high parapets and blockhouse. The blockhouse covered two sides, and on the cliff educe and that on the south-east being placed projecting almost its entire length and breadth beyond the alignment. It was strongly built, being double-walled with heavy planks, and the wide space between the walls being filled with closely packed shingle. It was loop-holed on three sides, about seven feet wide on floor all round being raised from the central level on an incline, so that the men could fire through the loop-holes whilst lying down. It was used as one of the barrack rooms. At the west corner-that is the other corner against the cliff edge on the north-west side, as small square of entrenchment- moat and parapet- projected, and from this the north-west side could be covered with rifle fire. This projection or angle, as it was called, was used as a look-out. the inland side from each corner inclined inwards slightly to the middle and so each half could be covered by rifle fire from the other half. The parapet was, as usual. some height above the ledge within, to permit the men manning it to fire over the top."

1866: Major Von Tempsky produced this watercolour of troops on the march. Maori, Pakeha, dogs, and spectators. Maxwell may have been there. The pictures title is "On General Chute's march, West Coast". Sir William Fox gifted this picture to the nation and it is now kept by our Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Dr Featherston (with his cane) is on the left, then Major-General Chute. The Maori guide Takiora is on the horse and behind her is von Tempsky (with his sword). In all 514 people were on the march.

Having taken them around the mountain to the north, Chute returned around the coast. Their last fight was six miles inland from the Warea-Opuanke Road at a pa called Waikoko. There was a Hauhau fortress there. After that the march went on to Opuanke, the Waingongoro, and arrived in patea on 6th February 1866.

Final note: Opunake is the site of an historic meeting between the greatest war strategist of the Maori and the Pakeha, and John Mackintosh Roberts (1840-1929). Roberts was a soldier, resident magistrate and an admniistrator. He met the undefeated chief Titokowaru at Opunake in 1886.

Te Namu - the most formidable of them all

    
Te Namu Pa is about 20 minutes walk from the Railway Cottage.
It is a short distance from the northern end of Opunake Beach.

The Pa is just 500 meters from Wilson road. You cross an iron bridge over the Otahi Stream. The beach below the Pa is usually deserted. The Pa saved Taranaki Maori when Maori invaded from the North, but not from Pakeha who arrived in HMS Alligator and the schooner Isabella.

The leading chief at Te Namu at the time of European arrival was Wiremu Kingi Matakatea. The was a fine shot with a rifle. Matakatea embraced Christianity and was well-disposed towards the Europeans.

Wiremu Kingi Matakatea (Ngati Haumiti), born 1800? died 1893.
Warrior chief of Te Namu, with cloak and patu.
(There is more information about him in the section on the signalman, above.)

The Graphic, published in London, 21 August 1880, recorded a story about Te Namu:

Scarecrow Worzel Gummidge (otherwise known as Robert) may be seen around the Pa. Worzel first appeared in the novels by Barbara Euphan Todd in the 1930s.

Matakatea (photograph above) was a high-born Taranaki war chief. After the great Waikato victory at Maru in 1826, many of the refugees of the Taranaki and Ngati Ruanui tribes fled to Matakatea's pa at Te Namu, at Opunake.

At Te Namu , in 1833, a strong party of Waikatos besieged Matakatea, but were repulsed. The following year a stronger Waikato party, led by such redoubtable chiefs as Potatau Te Wherowhero and Wahanui, laid siege to Te Namu. Again Matakatea, aided by Titokowaru and other Taranaki chiefs, repulsed them. Overcome, the Waikatos sued for peace. Although Matakatea's people were reinforced by eight whalers with four carronades, this victory was popularly attributed to Moki's own devastating accuracy with a rifle – hence he was always known as Matakatea – the “clear eyed”.

Greg O'Brien, poet, painter, editor and journalist, remembers Te Namu's association with Parihaka. He wrote: "my mother recalls an elderly aunt's recollection of the Parihaka siege—her description of a line of women singing, surrounding the settlement as the troops approached.) What escapes us, the land, kumara-pitted, remembers—adze heads recovered from among boulders, the faded shadows that were trenches around Te Namu pa. The site of the first fighting between British infantry—the 50th Regiment, ‘the Dirty Half Hundred’— and Maori."

 

A couple of maps

Chart of the bay and roads, 1882. Also, a postcard of Opunake, about 1905.
Place your mouse on the map to see the postcard.

 

Ihaia Road goes directly to the mountain. There are several entrances to the National Park.

 

The peace of Parihaka

   
Historic and tragic Parihaka Pa is a 15 minute drive from the cottage. This is how it looked in the early 1880s when a comet appeared. An inspirational place.
There is an annual peace and music festival in early January, although it is a little expensive for those with a casual interest.
See www.parihaka.com

"Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kakahi led the Parihaka movement. Both men were committed to non-violent action in order to resist the invasion of their estates and to protect Maori independence. They drew on ancestral as well as Christian teachings to offer both spiritual and political leadership while the colonial interests sought to portray them as fanatics. Both men advocated good relationships and interaction between all races as long as Maori ownership of lands and independence from Pakeha (European) domination was respected."

The troops line up outside Parihaka, 5 November 1881.
This might be the most important photograph in New Zealand history.

Here is W.T.Parham's statement about Colonel Roberts who was in charge. We have already met Roberts on this web page, for Major Maxwell of Opunake Redoubt fame (see above) was on his staff for four years.

"... Roberts ... in July 1879 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the militia and placed in charge of security in Taranaki. Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III and Tohu Kakahi established themselves and their Taranaki followers at Parihaka. There followed a period of strained relations, ending in confrontation between these Maori leaders and John Bryce, the native minister, on 5 November 1881. On this occasion Roberts, with a force of 1,589 men, entered Parihaka, meeting no armed resistance, and arrested the leaders. Although he supported the authority of the government, Roberts was cool-headed and just. His respect for the Maori and his willingness to deal fairly with them as far as he was able was demonstrated when he received Titokowaru at Opunake in 1886. Roberts's Opunake command ended in 1886, and in February 1887 he was appointed commander of the new New Zealand Permanent Militia."

Jacquie Sturm (see above) has family links with Parihaka and at least one of her tupuna (ancestors) was among the prisoners transported to Otago in the late 19th century. J C Sturm published several poems about Parihaka and this is one of them:

He waiata tēnei mō Parihaka

Have you heard of Parihaka
Between
Maunga Taranaki
And the sea

Where Te Whiti o Rongomai
And Tohu Kakahi
Preached
Passive resistance, not war?

Have you heard of Parihaka
Where Taranaki iwi
Gathered
Seeking a way to keep their land?

Non-violence was their choice
Peace their aim
Raukura their badge
Ploughs their only weapons.

They pulled down fences
Pulled out pegs
Then ploughed whatever
The settlers claimed was theirs.

Have you heard of Parihaka’s
Boys and girls
Waiting outside the gates
When the mounted soldiers came

To rape and murder
Pillage and burn
To take Te Whiti and Tohu away
With all the ploughmen

And ship them south
To build a causeway
Around Dunedin’s
Wintry harbour?

Have you heard of Taranaki iwi
Denied a trial,
Chained like dogs
In sealed caves and tunnels?

Ngāi Tahu smuggled
Food and blankets
To the prisoners
Comforted the sick in the dark.

Kua ngaro ngā tangata
Kua ngaro i te pō!
Auē te mamae
That followed after!

If you haven’t heard of Parihaka,
Be sure
Your grandchildren will
And their children after them,

History will see to that.
But for now,
He waiata tēnei mō Parihaka –
Auē, auē, a-u-ē –

 

The great Opunake Muru

BY A TARANAKI VETERAN

DURING the Summer of 1873 I was living at Opunake, being manager of the Opunake Company's flax mill, and being in charge of the Europeans in that part of the district, as they worked at the mill, matters were brought more prominently to my notice than they otherwise would have been, and I had special facilities for seeing the full workings and effect of the muru of Te Namu kainga, the greatest muru that had been known on that coast in the memory of the oldest Maori. more>

 

Archeology of Taranaki

An overview of Maori pa sites, population distribution and trends, historic locations and significant finds such as ovens is available at www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/Sfc154a.pdf

 

Geology of Taranaki

A geological sketch of the Taranaki Peninsula and Taranaki Basil, showing major structural elements, regional scale,
and the coastal distribution of Mount Messenger Formation
(Manley, R. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 1998, Vol. 41: 16).

Taranaki Basin developed in Late Cretaceous times in concert with the opening of the Tasman Sea.

"Initial rift and passive margin phases were overprinted by Neogene convergent tectonics. The eastern margin of Taranaki Basin is the approximately north-south trending Taranaki Fault and Patea-Tongaporutu basement complex comprised of Mesozoic rocks. The western margin lies seaward, and the basin's western edge is bounded by the western platform / continental shelf break and Cape Egmont Fault Zone, which separates the two major elements of Taranaki Basin— Taranaki Graben (graben = elongated block of the Earth's crust, lying between two faults and lower than the faults) and Western Platform. (See diagram above.) To the north, Taranaki Basin merges with the southwestern offshore part of Northland Basin. To the south, Taranaki Basin overlaps with the basin and range provinces of the South Island. Taranaki Graben is divided into northern (deeper) and southern (shallower) grabens by a complex zone of normal faults. The basin contains a maximum thickness of 9000 m of sediment. The first sediments deposited were terrestrial or paralic. A marine transgression (spread over the sea) in the Eocene came from the northwest in response to rifting associated with the opening of the Tasman Sea, depositing a thick marine succession."

Web cam on Taranaki

Mount Taranaki  [39 Degrees 55' S, 174Degrees 03'55" E] This is the live view from near Inglewood looking Southwest. Provided by Tananakivista.co.nz

Click here for a moving image of the mountain right now - opens in new window

Opunake Savage Club

The importance of this photograph is that it shows the south cliff above the beach and the original road formed as a result of the von Tempsky fortifications. It also indicates the beach when it was built upon, at a time when the population of Opunake was about 700 people.