The History of the Land
Early Arawa explorers who pushed inland from coastal Maketu discovered the secrets of a land of thermal wonders.
Legend says that Ngatoroirangi, the navigator priest who came to Aotearoa with the Arawa canoe, drew fire to warm himself on the frozen slopes of Tongariro. He also trapped the feared sorcerer Tama-o-Hoi into the depths of the Tarawera Mountain.
Te Arawa people settled in the area, sometimes living peacefully, sometimes at war with other tribes for the rich resources of the area. Over many generations they buried their dead on the slopes of their sacred mountain. Sometimes Ruaumoko (ancestral god of earthquakes) groaned deep within the earth, causing the ground to shake, and reminding people of the volcanic power below. |
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The Century of Change
All this was to change in the nineteenth century. Seymour Mills Spencer and his wife Ellen established a Christian mission station in 1843 on Tauaroa, a rocky headland on the shores of Lake Tarawera, and named it Kariri or Galilee. The Spencers later shifted to the more fertile valley of Te Wairoa. Early visitors helped spread the fame of the area's wonders to an eager Victorian world. Ohinemutu on the shores of Lake Rotorua became a stopover on the way to the terraces, and Te Wairoa grew into a bustling village of around 150.
Tourism in New Zealand was born here. By 1860 the Tuhourangi people were organising day trips to the terraces and at Hinemihi meeting house the eyes of the carvings were made of gold sovereigns and the people grew rich.
There is a darker side to the story. These were times of upheaval and crisis for a society undergoing tremendous change. The unprecedented wealth was easily spent, and alcohol and illness took their toll as people became dependant on a cash economy. Tuhoto Ariki, a tohunga (priest) of great power, warned the people that disaster could follow. The sighting of a phantom canoe ten days before the eruption confirmed his fears for the area. "He tohu tera ara ka horo katoa enei takiwa" - "it is a warning sign that all will be overwhelmed." |
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Disaster - The Tarawera Eruption
On the night of June 10th 1886 life in this area was to change forever....
In the early hours of the morning of June 10th 1886, Tarawera Mountain erupted. By 2.30am its three peaks were in eruption, columns reaching thousands of metres into the sky. Worse was to come. Basalt magma mixed with the hydro-thermal system under Lake Rotomahana and at around 3.20am the bed of Lake Rotomahana blew out, taking with it the terraces. Nearby villages of Te Ariki and Moura were buried under a scalding pyroclastic flow.
The settlement of Te Wairoa was almost completely destroyed by falling rocks and mud. At the schoolhouse Charles Haszard, his family and guests were awoken around 1am. They gazed in awe across the lake at a crimson glow above Tarawera. As they watched, a dense black cloud rose above the glow, lit by a tremendous display of lightning. The awe of the watchers quickly turned to fear as a hail of stones began to rain down, and a strong wind accompanied by a deafening roar smashed windows.
The eruption of Mt. Tarawera remains one of the worst recorded natural disasters in New Zealand history. Over 150 people died under the ash and mud that rained down on the district on that fateful night, and entire villages disappeared forever.
The fabulous Pink and White Terraces, a major tourist attraction once described as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", were destroyed along with the livelihoods of nearby tribes which relied on the visitor traffic.
The Time of Grief
The grief was terrible for the Tuhourangi and Ngati Rangitihi people. They lost family members, their livelihood and the bones of their ancestors in one terrible night. Many of the refugees were offered land at Whakarewarewa and Ngapuna. Whilst nothing can ease the loss, moves are now underway by members of the Tuhourangi and Ngati Rangitihi hapu to have ownership of some of their lost lands returned
"In the heart of the Tuhourangi people today, it is strongly believed that the lands and waters in the shadow of Tarawera Maunga where the wairua of our ancestors still walk will again be ours," wrote Rea Rangiheuea in 1992.
Tarawera Today
The eruption of Tarawera Mountain happened over 100 years ago. Rotorua is very close to the place where great tectonic plates meet; the land has been moving here for thousands of years and continues to do so. Deep in Tarawera Mountain the pressure builds, the mountain merely sleeps. Scientists measure volcanic activity, keeping an eye on the restless earth for signs of a the next eruption.
Tourists from all over the world still visit the mountain, many transported to its awesome summit by descendants of the people who escorted early visitors to the terraces.
People can trace this fascinating story by experiencing the violent eruption of Mount Tarawera at the Rotorua Museum; exploring the excavated site of Te Wairoa Village known today as "The Buried Village"; and meet the descendants of the survivors in their living thermal village at Te Whakarewarewa. |
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The Pink & White Terraces of Rotomahana, Te Otukapuarangi & Te Tarata
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Near Tarawera Mountain on the shores of Lake Rotomahana silica-rich waters, warmed by the magma below, slowly formed two glistening terraces.
Cascading into remote Lake Rotomahana, the beautiful silica terraces attracted people from all over the world. Visitors travelled by steamer to Tauranga, taking a bridle track to Ohinemutu on the shores of Lake Rotorua. A coach trip to Te Wairoa, a two-hour canoe journey and finally a walk over the narrow isthmus separating the swampy shores of Lake Rotomahana from Lake Tarawera took them to the foot of the fabled terraces.
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Te Tarata, (The Tattooed Rock) or the White Terrace was the larger. Covering seven acres, it tumbled to the lake from a from a height of 30 metres, fanning to a frontage of 240 metres. The terraces of Otukapuarangi, (Fountain of the Clouded Sky) or the Pink Terraces, were smaller and lower. The steps gradually ascended to the crater platform where three metre-deep basins were filled with clear blue water of around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, making superb bathing places.
Victorian travellers recorded their experience in a rich legacy of art, photographs and words.
Writer Anthony Trollope enjoyed a bath in one of the pools of the Pink Terrace in 1874: "In the bath, when you strike your chest against it, it is soft to the touch, you press yourself against it and it is smooth.....The baths are shell-like in shape, like vast open shells, the walls of which are concave and the lips ornamented in a thousand forms."
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