Kawhia Harbour
Some 100km southwest of Hamilton, on the west coast, is the natural harbor of Kawhia. The area was formerly of great importance to the Maoris as the resting place of the Tainui ancestral canoe.
The Maori tribes that lived here, under their chief Te Rauparaha, were driven out of Kawhia in 1821 by other Waikato tribes and moved south to Kapiti Island, where they in turn killed or drove out the local tribes.
The Maori tribes that lived here, under their chief Te Rauparaha, were driven out of Kawhia in 1821 by other Waikato tribes and moved south to Kapiti Island, where they in turn killed or drove out the local tribes.
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Must-see attractions nearby:
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Related Attractions
Kawhia, New Zealand
(Near Hamilton)
Now a small settlement of 300 people, in the 19th C. Kawhia was an important trading center (timber, flax, grain) that shipped cargoes to Sydney and even as far afield as California. After the land wars and the peace of 1881 it declined into insignificance.
Taharoa, New Zealand
(Near Hamilton)
South of the entrance to Kawhia Harbour, reached on a side road, is the Maori settlement of Taharoa, round which are considerable deposits of dark ferruginous sand. It is processed in modern plants and exported, mainly to Japan.
Te Puia Hot Springs
On Te Puia beach, 4km west of Kawhia, hot springs gush out of the sand at low tide, so that visitors can have their own thermal bath.
