Wainui Bay

Wainui is a Māori language term (wai meaning water, and nui meaning large, expansive). In other words, the name translates as big water. The umbrella entity for the three local iwi gives a meaning of "where the tidal flow leaves a big expanse of bay empty". It is one of many places named Wainui in New Zealand, for example, Wainui, Wainui Beach, Wainui in Akaroa Harbour. There are three plausible explanations for the name Taupō: • In the sixteenth century a chief, Tūmatakōkiri, migrated from Lake Taupō to the Cook Strait area, thus it is conceivable he brought the name with him • And lastly, the place used to be spoken of as Taipo. The iwi once revered a taipō, a many-scaled goblin, with the body of sea serpent and the head of a man == Local places ==

Wainui Inlet Wainui Inlet is the estuary of the Wainui River that flows into the bay. It can be walked across within two hours either side of low tide. Uarau Point Uarau Point is a prominent hill on the eastern shore of Wainui Bay. This steep, rounded, bush-clad knoll is linked to the granite mainland by a sandy isthmus. Four centuries ago, a pā stood there. Today, as then, it is a great lookout spot. Traces of trenches, terraces and cooking pits are now hidden under mataī, tītoki, nīkau and karaka trees. A few steps away, is a lonely curve of golden sand known as Whariwharangi Bay. Abel Tasman anchored his ships off here. Researchers into history debate whether or not waka landing sites at Taupō Point are the oldest maritime structures in New Zealand. Māori activity at the time of Tasman's visit At the time of Tasman’s bloody visit to Aotearoa, the Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri iwi maintained a pā and settlement on the eastern side of Wainui Bay at Taupō Point and nearby Whariwharangi Beach. A drawing by Tasman's artist, Isaack Gilsemans, depicts ten men rowing a double-hulled waka, with another man standing on the prow. All the men have topknot hairstyles. The settlement had houses were built low to the grounds, curved-roof cooking shelters, storage pits and high storage racks. A proverb, or whakataukī, inscribed on the sign reads: Someone has scratched some graffiti underneath the whakataukī. It reads: Which may translate as "I will return... with some of my grandchildren." New Zealand's oldest maritime archaeological structures? In 2015, historical researcher, Rosanne Hawarden, claimed that a high-resolution image of the Gilsemans's 1642 drawing reveals waka landing sites on the shore by Taupō Point. In addition, Barnicoat's 1844 ink drawing of Taupō Point, shows waka on the same rocky beach, where large boulders have been shifted so waka could be hauled ashore. On the other hand, a group of historians led by Abel Tasman expert Grahame Anderson, debunked Hawarden’s research, and called it "wishful thinking". At high tide, some scrambling and climbing is needed. The track starts at the end of McShane Road, just past Wainui Inlet. ==References==