Lake slime yields pounamu treasure

Kirsten Unuwai is looking for the owner of this greenstone pendant found in Lake Rotorua. Photo / Stephen Parker

When Kirsten Unuwai and her partner were at Lake Rotorua on a scorching summer's day they stumbled upon something precious.

Now she's on a mission to return it to its owner.

The Rotorua woman and her partner recently went swimming in the lake, near Hamurana, when something slimy wrapped around her partner's foot.

Thinking it was lakeweed, her partner had tried to shake it off, but soon realised something heavy was dragging on the end of it.

Intrigued, he had picked it up and discovered it was a pounamu pendant on a cord, covered in green algae.

"I just saw him hold this green thing up and I thought what on earth is that?" Ms Unuwai said.

"We didn't know how long it had been in there. It could have been in the lake for years."

After scrubbing off the algae, she had decided to take action to find the owner of the taonga.

"I think it could've meant a lot to someone. My dad had a similar bone necklace and I know when he lost it he was devastated. He felt like a part of him was missing until he found it again."

The pendant, which appeared to have been handmade, could have been passed down to its owner through the generations, or it could have been gifted from a loved one.

"There [are] so many questions that keep racing through my head, like did the person throw it in the lake on purpose, to let go of something, or was it accidentally dropped into the stream flowing into the lake? It must have some kind of story."

Ms Unuwai said while the greenstone didn't look like it was worth much money, it would likely be precious to someone.

Kirsten Unuwai is looking for the owner of this greenstone pendant found in Lake Rotorua. Photo / Stephen Parker

"I don't think it'll be worth anything to anyone except the owner."

In Maori culture pounamu was considered a taonga or treasure, she said. Pounamu increased in mana as it passed from one generation to another.

She hoped she would find the owner, who would have photos or a story to prove it belonged to him or her, so she could return it.

She urged anyone who might know who the pounamu belonged to contact the Rotorua Daily Post.