When Hoturapa and Kupe were out fishing one day, Kupe ordered Hoturapa to dive down and free Kupe's fishing line, which had become tangled.
When Hoturapa dived into the sea to free the tangled line, Kupe sliced through the anchor rope of the canoe, and began to row furiously back to shore.
Hoturapa drowned, but his family were suspicious of the circumstances surrounding his death. It was, in fact, a plan on Kupe's part to take Hoturapa's wife, Kura.
To avoid vengeance from Hoturapa's family, Kupe and his family left Hawaiiki in Kura's canoe Matahorua.
After some time of navigating, Kupe's wife Hine Te Aparangi sighted the islands of New Zealand, which appeared as land lying beneath a cloud. Because of this, they named the islands Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud.
As Kupe and his crew were sailing along the coast of this new land, they disturbed a giant octopus hiding in a coastal cave. Terrified at the sight of a strange canoe filled with human beings, the huge octopus swam rapidly in front of the Matahorua and took flight, passing through the strait between the North and South Islands. Kupe followed the octopus, and discovered modern Cook Strait.
Kupe and the Matahorua eventually caught up with the giant octopus.
In defence, the octopus whipped its enormous tentacles around the canoe, intent on devouring the whole canoe.
During the furious battle that followed with the sea monster, it became obvious that the Matahorua was in great danger of breaking up.
However, Kupe suddenly had an idea, and threw a large water gourd overboard.
The octopus, thinking a man had fallen over, released its tentacles from the Matahorua and turned to attack the gourd.
Kupe waited until the octopus was entwined around the gourd then attacked the head of the octopus with his adze.
The octopus died.
With his adze, Kupe then cut several islands away from the South Island, and several islands away from the North Island, including the island of Kapiti.
He remained for a short while in modern Wellington, before continuing northwards up the coast of the North Island, naming various islands, rivers and harbours on the way.
Kupe then returned to Hawaiiki, telling everybody of the distant cloud-capped and high-rising land he had discovered.
He gave instructions on how to return to this new land, but said he would not return.
Source http://history-nz.org/maori9.html#top
