The remains of Te Rua o Peka bay.
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See below for English translation
He taniwha a Korowhakatupua, kai ngā pareparenga o Utuhina tōna rua. Koia nei tōna wāhi noho.
E ai ki ngā tuatahi, i tūā o te Tawa tēnei rua. Kua huri ngā kaupeka o ngā tau me ngā rau tau nā reira e kore tātau e kite i tēnei rākau pakeke. Hai te ahiahi pō puta ai a Korowhakatupua.Ka kauria ngā wai o Te Rua o Peka, me te aha, me pēwhea e kore ai e toro atu te hiahia kia kauria ngā wai mātao o Te Rotorua nui a Kahumatamomoe. Kia tika hoki!
Ka puta i te wahapū o Utuhina, ka hipa a Te Papakino, ka tae ki Manukaroa ka mānu mā te au o Pikopiko-i-whiti ka tere ai ki Kaiwhitiwhiti ki Hāpaitoa ki Te Hiwihiwi ka hipa a Te Kāramuramu ka tae ki Te Rautaka kia tirohia e ia a Mokoia whaihoki ngā kāinga huhua e tū marara ana i ngā tahataha o te roto moana, he titiro nāna te moana me te ora o te wai, he whakarongo i ngā karakia a ngā rangatira hoki, ā, ka hoki ki Utuhina.
He taniwha, he mōkai, he tupua, he wahine a Korowhakatupua.
Āe he ngarara hoki. He kaupapa tiaki i ngā wai Māori o te takiwā me ngā tini kākahi, kēwai, kōkopu e teretere ana i te papa o te moana. Ki tūāwhenua he kāinga rahi nō te iwi.
He rangatira anake e noho nā i ēnei whare. Tērā tetehi kāinga he rangatira me tōna hoa makau. Hai te ahiahi pō haere ai te wahine rangatira ki te pānao kēwai. Ka roa e pānao kēwai ana, ka hoki ia ki tōna kāinga me ngā hua nui. E wāuna hoki he ware nōna ki te tuku whakaaro ki a Korowhakatupua kāre kau āna whakaaro ki te ahu. Ka rīnoi ngā whēkau o Korowhakatupua.
Nā reira ka toko ake te whakaaro i a Korowhakatupua kia whakatikangia te kinonga o taua rangatira rā. Ka noho ia ki tōna rua kāinga ki reira whakatakataka rautaki ai. Ka ao te pō kai reira tonu ia e whakatakataka ana. Ka ahipō, ka puta mai taua rangatira ki te pānao kēwai, e pai ana. Kua mātau a Korowhakatupua me pēwhea e tika ai te kinonga.
Kai te wai te rangatira e pānao kēwai haere ana, ka mamingatia te wahine nei e ia. Ka whakatutū te pūehu kia ehuehu te wai e kore rā te wahine e kite i a ia e kōnihi haere ana. Kātahi ka tukua ngā kēwai ki tōna aroaro kia rahi tonu e ngunguru ai te hiakai o te puku o te wahine, ka rokohanga e ia ngā kēwai e ngaoki haere ana i te wai hohonu, ka ngaro ngā tahau waewae i te wai, nā wai ngā turi, nā wai te hope o te wahine, ka taparere te wai kātahi ka huakina te waha komekome o te taniwha, ka iti e ngaungau ana ka horomi ai.
Ka ngaro te wahine me tana kete me āna kēwai katoa, pau katoa i tōna waha te horomi. Ka puta mai te hoa rangatira me tana rākau apo kēwai kai te hamama tōna waha e karanga ana ki tōna wahine, ko te wai anake e haere ana, titiro kau ngā kanohi te moana ka kite atu i te hiku e ngaro ana i te wai. Kāore tōna hoa e kitea.
Tērā, tērā. Nō reira anō te pātai nō whea tēnei tupua? E ai ki a Raharuhi Pururu kaumatua mōhio ki ngā tātai kōrero o nehe rā. Heke iho a Korowhakatupua i ngā wai mahana o Taupō. I karangangia tēnei ngarara e Te Aratukutuku hai patu i te pā taunaha o Muruika. Ka waipuketia te ihu o Muruika i ngā ngaru ehuehu o Te Rotorua moana, ka ngaro te pā i te takahuringa o tēnei tupua.
Kāti, nā tēnei taniwha tonu te take i ngaro ai te tangata me te wahine me ngā tamariki. Ka tāti tana hokinga ki Taupō, ka peka atu ki Horohoro ki reira kaukau ai. Kātahi te ora me te papai o ngā waiariki ka warea te taniwha ki te moe, te oranga ake e hī ana te rākura, ka whakarākaungia tēnei taniwha ka tapā ki te ingoa ko Korowhakatupua.
Ka kite nā te iwi i te kātua e pōtere ana i te hōpua wai, ka tangohia i te wai, nō te tangohanga i te wai, ka maroke te puna, ka whakahokia te katua ki te hōpua ka koropupū te wai māori. Ka waihongia atu.
Wheoi anō tēnei taniwha o tātau he mana nui, he mana whakahirahira koia rā hoki te ahuatanga o Korowhakatupua hakoke wai Māori.
Korowhakatupua is a mokai who had her kāinga on the shores of the Utuhina River.
The rua or abode of Korowhakatupua was located up from the mouth of the Utuhina and not too far from an old Tawa tree that once stood on its banks.
Korowhakatupua was also known to move freely about in the bay of Te Rua o Peka. How could one deny swimming in the calm waters of Te Rotorua nui a Kahumatamomoe? Indeed, she would have capitalized on the opportunity to take in the sites of Mokoia but also frequent the many villages that once dotted the sandy banks.
Korowhakatupua is a female mokai, a ngarara who protected the inhabitants but also the resources of the area and the waterways of the site. One story associated with Korowhakatupua concerns a chief’s wife, whose name has been lost, who offended the water guardian.
Korowhakatupua, though a protector of the people and the natural environment, had been disrespected by this rangatira who did not present her with the first offerings of her evenings catch. And so it was that Korowhakatupua retreated into her rua and devised her plan to re-balance the scales.
As the wahine rangatira made her way out into the waters to collect the kēwai, Korowhakatupua observed this and, from this action, finalized her plan to take the young rangatira.
On the following night, again the wahine rangatira made her way out into the waters; this time, however, Korowhakatupua enticed the kēwai out into the deeper parts of the water, seeing the great abundance of kēwai in the deeper parts of the water, the wahine rangatira couldn’t resist herself, slowly she made her way out, the water came up to her knees.
Past her knees, eventually, the further she moved out, the deeper the water got. Korowhakatupua was off in the deeper section, awaiting the prime opportunity to snatch her, and as the water finally passed her waistline, Korowhakatupua’s plan was a success. Just by coincidence, the husband made his way out to join his wife only to find the stillness of the night and what seemed to be a tail disappear beneath the water.
The origin of Korowhakatupua was captured by Raharuhi Pururu, who stated that the taniwha was summoned by the old kuia Te Aratukutuku, who was a resident of Te Rua o Peka; it was this taniwha that sank the legendary village that made a more significant part of Muruika.
Returning home to Taupō, the taniwha decided to bathe in the waters of Horohoro, but as dawn came, she was transformed into a log called Korowhakatupua.
The area’s people thought that removing Korowhakatupua from the waters would be safer. When they did, the pool dried up. When they returned the taniwha, the water reappeared.
Such was the influence of Korowhakatupua, the travelling taniwha.
'[We are] just as staunch and ferocious in saying we hold sovereignty over our own.'