71 Waihi Road, Tokaanu, Taupo

Waihi Village - Te Rapa - 1846 Landslide

New Zealand's highest death toll from a landslide was sadly achieved here in 1846 when a massive hill fell upon a peaceful Tuwharetoa village.

Sixty souls were lost when their village, Te Rapa, was completely swallowed by the landslide resulting from a particularly rainy season. Apparently a few folk crawled out, but not the Tuwharetoa paramount chief, Mananui Te Heuheu Tukino II.

Volcanic activity from the Hipaua Steaming Cliffs and weather activity had combined to generate the classic New Zealand recipe for disaster. Directly above Te Rapa village were the volcanic springs of Mt Kakarama. Unbeknownst to the folk below, a small slip caused by excessive rain dammed the exit stream. Three days later down came the entire hill. A smaller version of the same event took another life in 1910, after that, the people moved around the corner to a new village called Waihi. Oral history also tells of another landslide, in 1780, which may have killed over 100 people.

Seismic and stability concerns have not abated in this area, the safety of State Highway 41 is under constant review, and portions of the lake are periodically put under Rahui to prevent any further fatalities. Waihi is considered safer than Te Rapa was, but is sometimes evacuated when there are too many quakes or other stability issues. The few whanau that live there are blessed with a rich history featuring the rangatira (leadership) of Tuwharetoa, including a Mausoleum for many of the famed Te Heuheu family, and with a special Catholic Church, built in 1889. The story of the landslide is here recounted in the New Zealand Railways Magazine.

Waihi is a private village, protected by it's own legislation, so visitors, who mainly arrive by boat, must seek permission before stepping ashore. With that permission, it is sometimes possible to visit the church, and walk most of the way to the beautiful waterfall behind the village. The nearest place to stay is the locally owned hotel, Braxmere.

BOOK YOUR STAY AT BRAXMERE - LITTLE ADVENTURESThe same volcanic energy centre that sparked this disaster is also the source for Tokaanu Thermal Pools and Tokaanu Power Station.

Image Credit: George French Angas (copyist); J. W. Giles (as the lithographer) - Angas, George French 1822-1886: The New Zealanders Illustrated. London, Thomas McLean, 1847 [Image of page 53] PLATE XXI. THE HOUSE OF HIWIKAU, AND THE FALLS KOWAIHI, AT TE RAPA, TAUPO LAKE.
IT is truly a romantic spot where Hiwikau, the brother of Te Heuheu, has fixed his residence, at the extremity of the straggling Kainga of Te Rapa, on the shores of the Lake of Taupo: the red dwelling-house, of Maori architecture, with a savage image adorning the summit of its gabled verandah, stands overlooking the broad expanse of the lake--now blue as the vault of heaven that overhangs it, and now black and sullen, and ruffled into countless crisp and foaming waves by the sudden tempests that sweep down from the neighbouring mountains. Behind the dwelling, rise steep rocky cliffs, clothed with every variety of foliage, and the tree-ferns spread their rich and graceful forms over the half-hidden glen, where the thundering falls of Ko Waihi, make endless music, that has long since ceased to be heard by the dwellers hard by, whom constant habit has rendered insensible to the murmuring sound. In New Zealand there is no severe and rigorous winter as in the north, where the leafless trees stretch their naked branches to the inhospitable sky; neither is there any parched and burning summer, that with its scorching breath causes the verdure to wither, and the watercourses to fail. Year after year, the trees are always green, and the waterfall of Kowaihi flows on from generation to generation, amidst a region of perpetual spring and summer. The chief and his wife are represented sitting in the verandah of the dwelling, where food is generally eaten in wet weather: the inner apartment consists of a spacious sleeping chamber, which has no orifice besides the door and window opening into the verandah.

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  • Memorial
  • Waterfall

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