The meaning and function of Māori rock art has been lost over time. CPlay was inspired by this image to tell the legend of the Ārai-te-uru waka within the playground design.  Photograph by Geoff Cloake. Image used with the permission from Te Ana Ngāi Tahu Māori Rock Art Centre and Te Rūnanga o Moeraki.

Māori have many stories and traditions about how the world was created. These stories are so strong that they can influence all aspects of life and expressions of culture.

Te Tai-o-Ārai-te-uru (the Otago coastline) was named after an ancestral waka atua (canoe of the gods) that is said to have foundered here in a storm on its return voyage from Hawaiiki. The Ārai-te-uru waka sailed past Timaru, down the coast and was capsized at Matakaea (Shag Point) near Moeraki. Some of its kaihinaki (food baskets) and water gourds were washed overboard at Te Kaihinaki (Hampden Beach), where they were preserved in stone as the famous Moeraki boulders.

Many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land, including Kirikirikatata who carried his grandson, Aoraki, on his shoulders. They needed to be back at the waka before daybreak, but many of them did not make it. These passengers were then trapped ashore, and instead turned into the landmarks of Te Waipounamu. 

The Mount Cook Range takes the name of Kirikirikatata, with Aoraki sitting slightly further north – on his grandfather’s shoulders. Passengers Pātītī (Patiti Point) and Tarahaoa and Hua-te-kerekere (Big Mount Peel and Little Mount Peel) were among others that became the hills and coastline of the area. 

Early Māori in the area included Waitaha, Rapuwai and Käti Mamoe. They later merged into Ngāi Tahu, and Arowhenua is now the local marae.

There are over 500 rock art images nearby created by early Māori. The meaning and function of Māori rock art has been lost over time, so we are left as viewers to interpret the art. Some of these drawings could depict waka and mōkihi used to journey the sea and rivers.

At Te Ana Ngāi Tahu Māori Rock Art you can see an original piece of rock art from the Takiroa Rock Art Site at Kurow-Duntroon. CPlay was inspired by this image to tell the legend of the Ārai-te-uru waka within the playground design.

Māori rock art removed from Takiroa, Waitaki Valley, in the takiwā of Te Rūnanga o Moeraki". Photograph by Geoff Cloake. Image used with the permission of Te Rūnanga o Moeraki

On an ancient pathway, this is Takiroa, Waitaki Valley. Takiroa is a significant landmark in the tradition of Kāi Tahu Whānui.

This rock shelter lies on an ara tawhito (ancient pathway) following the Waitaki River from the mountains to the sea. The headwaters of the Waitaki River are fed from Kā Roimata o Aoraki - the tears of Aoraki - the ancestral mountain of Kāi Tahu Whānui. Takiroa is a physical reminder of the ancestors who have passed through this landscape. It provided shelter, sustenance, and guidance to them and was and still is a place to share knowledge, a place to learn from, and a repository of people and treasures from the past. - whitestonegeopark/takiroa

A tall cliff to the right, with a rock shelter running along its length at the bottom. A European man is standing in front of the rock shelter, possibly alongside a fire Takiroa is a rock shelter at Waitaki, used by Maori.  - Mantell, Walter Baldock Durrant, 1820-1895 :Takiroa caves looking N. to Punaamokatore across the rise. 15 December [1851]. Ref: E-332-022. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22893746

Te Tihi-o-Maru: This is the original Māori name for Timaru, which means "the summit of Maru". Maru is a Māori deity associated with war and agriculture. Others have suggested that the name derives from te maru - 'place of shelter' or from tī, 'cabbage tree' and maru - 'shady'.

"Patiti Point" 

"Pātītī Point is located on the South Canterbury coastline at Timaru. Pātītī was a passenger on the Ārai-te-uru waka, which capsized off Matakaea on the North Otago Coastline. After the capsize, many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land. However, they needed to be back at the waka before daylight. Most did not make it, including Pātītī, and instead were transformed into many of the well-known landmarks of Te Waipounamu. In 1880, Hoani Kāhu from Arowhenua described Pātītī as “he kāinga nohoanga, mahinga kai, and he tauraka a waka”. - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas

Huatekerekere "Little Mt Peel" 

"Huatekerekere (Little Mount Peel) is a mountain in the Tarahaoa Range. Huatekerekere was the wife of Tarahaoa, and both were passengers on the Ārai-te-uru waka that capsized off Matakaea (Shag Point) on the Otago coastline. After capsizing, many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land, however they needed to be back at the waka before daylight. Most of the passengers, including Huatekerekere, did not return to the waka in time, and instead transformed into many of the well-known geographical features of Te Waipounamu. Huatekerekere transformed into the mountain that can now be seen in the Tarahaoa Range”. - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas

Tarahaoa "Mt Peel"

"Tarahaoa (Mount Peel) is the prominent mountain overlooking the Rangitata River in South Canterbury. Tarahaoa was a passenger on the Ārai-te-uru waka that capsized off Matakaea (Shag Point) on the Otago coastline. After the capsize, many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land, including Tarahaoa and his wife Huatekerekere. They were accompanied by their son and daughter, Kirikirikatata and Aroarokaehe. All the passengers needed to be back at the waka before daylight. However, most did not make it, and instead transformed into many of the well-known landmarks of Te Waipounamu. Tarahaoa and Huatekerekere transformed into the mountains now also known as Mount Peel and Little Mount Peel. Their children, Kirikirikatata and Aroarokaehe, are now represented by two large trees in Peel Forest. The local Kāi Tahu hapū of Kāti Huirapa, centered at Arowhenua, strongly identify with the mountain, often referring to Tarahaoa as their principal mountain. When the Arowhenua Native School (now the Arowhenua Māori School) was opened in 1895, the name Tarahaoa was given to the building. This building Tarahaoa, still stands in the south-western corner of the school grounds, next to Arowhenua Marae.” - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas 

Kirikirikatata "Kirikirikatata / Mount Cook Range"

"Kirikirikatata is the Māori name for the Mount Cook Range. Kirikirikatata was a passenger on the Ārai-te-uru waka that crashed near Matakaea (Shag Point) on the Otago coastline. After the capsize, many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land, including Kirikirikatata, who carried his grandson, Aoraki, on his shoulders. The passengers needed to be back at the waka before daylight. However, most did not make it, including Kirikirikatata and Aoraki. They instead turned into many of the well-known geographical features of Te Waipounamu. Kirikirikatata transformed into the mountain known today as the Mount Cook Range. Aoraki remained on his grandfather’s shoulders, and transformed into the mountain known as Aoraki/Mount Cook.” - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas 

Aoraki "Aoraki / Mount Cook"

"Aoraki (Mount Cook) is at the centre of the Ngāi Tahu creation traditions of Te Waipounamu. There are two specific traditions referring to Aoraki. In the first account Aoraki was an atua (demi-god) who arrived from the heavens with his three brothers. The return voyage went drastically wrong, and the waka crashed into Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean), forming what would later be known as the South Island (its earliest name being “Te Waka-o-Aoraki”). Aoraki and his brothers climbed to the highest side of the waka where they turned into the highest peaks of Kā Tiritiri-o-te-moana (the Southern Alps). In the second account Aoraki was a passenger on the Ārai-te-uru waka that crashed on the Otago coastline. After capsizing, many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land, including Kirikirikatata who carried his grandson, Aoraki, on his shoulders. The passengers needed to be back at the waka before daylight. However, most did not make it, and instead turned into many of the well-known landmarks of Te Waipounamu.” - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas

Matakaea "Shag Point / Matakaea"

"Matakaea (Shag Point), located immediately north of the Waihemo (Shag River) on the Otago coastline, is where the famed Ārai-te-uru waka capsized. The Ārai-te-uru waka came from the ancient homeland of Hawaiki, bringing kūmara to Aotearoa. After reaching Te Ika-a-Māui (North Island), the waka then travelled down the east coast of Te Waipounamu. The journey was reasonably smooth until the waka encountered heavy seas at the Waitaki River mouth. Here the round food-baskets and water-carrying gourds were lost overboard forming the Moeraki boulders; the waka then continued down the coast before capsizing at Matakaea. Many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land, but did not return to the waka before daylight, and instead turned into many of the well-known geographical features of Te Waipounamu. Respected southern Ngāi Tahu leader Rāwiri Te Mamaru described in his evidence to the 1879 Smith-Nairn Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Ngāi Tahu land claims that Matakaea is a rae (headland), kāinga nohoanga (settlement), pā (fortified settlement), and kāinga mahinga kai (food-gathering place).” - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas

Reproduction of the rock art to go inside the shelter. It can connect and share creation stories of the Caroline Bay and wider area. Some say this is image represents the ancestral waka Te Tai-o-Ārai-te-uru that sailed past and wrecked near Moraki. Passengers turned into landmarks we see around us at Caroline Bay.

Thank you to Francine Spencer who is our cultural advisor and on the Cplay Design Team for making this special reproduction possible.

Conceptual plan by Rushton Architects for the Timaru Suburban Lions Shelter project.
erekere (Little Mount Peel) is a mountain in the Tarahaoa Range. Huatekerekere was the wife of Tarahaoa, and both were passengers on the Ārai-te-uru waka that capsized off Matakaea (Shag Point) on the Otago coastline. After capsizing, many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land, however they needed to be back at the waka before daylight. Most of the passengers, including Huatekerekere, did not return to the waka in time, and instead transformed into many of the well-known geographical features of Te Waipounamu. Huatekerekere transformed into the mountain that can now be seen in the Tarahaoa Range.