Right in front of the house of my sister Neelu
Pandey, there is a huge mountain which
is in the shape of a huge giant sleeping..The well-recited legend of Te Mata
Peak portrays the hill as the prostrate body of the Waimarama chief Te Mata. Many
centuries ago the people living in pa (fortified villages) on the Heretaunga
Plains were under constant threat of war from the coastal tribes of Waimarama.
At a gathering at Pakipaki (5km south of Hastings) to discuss the problem, the
solution came when a kuia (wise old woman) sought permission to speak in the
marae and she said, The ways of a woman
can sometimes overcome the effects of darkness. Hinerakau, the beautiful
daughter of a Pakipaki chief, was to be the focal point of a plan. She would
get the leader of the Waimarama tribes, a giant named Te Mata, to fall in love
with her, turning his thoughts from war to peace. The plan succeeded but she
too fell in love. The people of Heretaunga, however, had not forgotten the past
and with revenge the motive, demanded that Hinerakau make Te Mata prove his devotion
by performing seemingly impossible tasks. The last task was to bite his way
through the hills between the coast and the plains so that people could come
and go with greater ease. Te Mata died proving his love when he choked on the
earth of Te Mata Peak and today his half-accomplished work can be seen in the
hills in what is known as The Gap or Pari Karangaranga (echoing cliffs). His
prostrate body forms Te Mata Peak. At sunset one can often see, in the mists
which stretch from the crown of Kahurānaki, the beautiful blue cloak with which
the grieving Hinerakau covered the body of her husband before leaping to her
own death from the precipice on the Waimarama side of the Peak. The gully at
the base of the cliff was formed when her body struck the earth.Looking towards
the Peak from Hastings, the huge bite that choked Te Mata can be seen. The
outline of his body forms the skyline, with his head to the south and his feet
to the north. European settlers also thought the hills resembled a man lying
down and called him the “Sleeping Giant”.
Visited many other
beautiful places with lovely flowers
growing wild and in abundance. Very impressed with Aratake honey which has a
wide collection of products made with honey along with various activities for
children related to honey making, film on honeybees. It also sells various
products made with honey
