The Arataki Visitor Centre is on Scenic Drive between Titirangi and Waiatarua. It is an iconic building, designed by architect Harry Turbott, and opened in the 1990s. The most striking aspect of the building is the central pou, representing the ancestors of the iwi of the Waitakere Ranges, Te Kawerau a Maki. This is  [ Read More ]

This document was prepared by Graeme Murdoch to describe the Human Heritage of the Bethells/Te Henga area in preparation for a Local Area Plan for that area. While it is primarily focused on that area, much of this history is relevant to the Piha area. backgroundrpt-part2-humanheritage

This distinctive hill at North Piha, visible opposite the North Piha Campers Club at the back of the Marawhara Walk,  has a name.   It is Te Pona Whetu, or the knuckle of Ngawhetu. Ngawhetu was the son of Maki, the eponymous ancestor of Te Kawerau a Maki. At a fight on North Piha beach, Ngawhetu injured  [ Read More ]

In The Aucklander 14 July Piha resident Pita Turei explained the meaning of taniwha in the Maori cultural world. Pita is currently working on a show called Taniwha! due to open at the Auckland Museum on 16 July. The notion of taniwha has come into prominence after Auckland Council Independent Maori Statutory Board member, Glenn  [ Read More ]

      A  newly carved 12 metre pou was today unveiled by Kiingi Tuheitia at the entrance to the Arataki Visitor Centre in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Parkland today (6 May).   Carved by John Collins and Sunnah Thompson from fallen kauri from the Waitakere Ranges, this pou represents the ancestry of Te Kawerau  [ Read More ]

Early Thursday morning (21 April), a small group gathered at Te Ahua Point, Mercer Bay, to unveil a pou marking the importance of this site to Te Kawerau a Maki. The site was inhabited over a long period and was a sanctuary and defensive position for the iwi. Recent archaeological excavation has shown that this is  [ Read More ]

This large pohutukawa grows out of the top of a large rock and has sent soots down into the soil beneath to sustain it. To Te Kawerau a Maki the rock with the tree on it was sacred and was known as Te Kamaka. It is a rare example of a named tapu tree in the  [ Read More ]

Te Piha talk   Graeme Murdoch held his audience spellbound when he shared his immense knowledge of the Maori history of Piha at Barnett Hall in November 2008. Emulating the oral tradition of telling stories, Graeme explained the many stories of Piha through its places names. He stressed that there was not one Maori occupation  [ Read More ]

Mercer Bay is to the south of the Piha between The Gap and Karekare. It sits at the bottom of precipitous cliffs, the highest in the Auckland region in this area, and access down these is only for the brave and fit. It can also be accessed from the seawards by swimming but once again,  [ Read More ]

The Gap is a low point between Taitomo Island and cliffs where waves come crashing through, providing a spectacular sight in big surf. At low tide a pool is created called the Blue Pool, a favourite place for children and adults to swim and as the tide comes in, to be buffeted by surges of  [ Read More ]