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Arataki Visitor Centre

  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  [ Read More ]

Graeme Murdoch brief history of West Coast

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  [ Read More ]

Know your Piha 1 – Te Pona Whetu

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  [ Read More ]

Pita Turei explains taniwha

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  [ Read More ]

New pou for Arataki visitor centre

      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  [ Read More ]

New pou installed at Te Ahua Point

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  [ Read More ]

Te Kamaka

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  [ Read More ]

History of Piha through its Maori names

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  [ Read More ]

Mercer Bay

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  [ Read More ]

The Gap

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  [ Read More ]

Clues about the ancient inhabitants of Te Ahua Pa

A recent archaeological dig at Te Ahua pa (Q11/61) above Mercer Bay found a plethora of artefacts and materials that add to our knowledge of how Maori lived around Piha  [ Read More ]

Maori settlement at Piha

Te Kawerau a Maki are the iwi or Maori tribe of the West Coast. The main Te Kawerau settlements were on the coast and large areas were cleared of forest  [ Read More ]