Haere mai, haere mai, haere mai me whakarongo mai!!! Let me tell you the pūrakau of how I, Hakitekura swam this here Roto, Whakatipu Wai Māori.

Ko Hakitekura tōku ingoa, I am Hakitekura, Ko Tuwiriroa tōku pāpā, my father is the Kāti mamoe fighting Chief Tuwiriroa a magnificent rakatira toa. These vast gardens were our kaika – Te Kararo – the site of my people’s Pa, our connection to the whēnua.

The men in my village would hold swimming contests but as a young wāhine I was not allowed to join in. Instead, I would watch from the hill below what you all now call Ben Lomond. It was there that I hatched my plan.

One day, I asked my father for a kauati (Fire Stick) and if it’s OK to gather some dry raupo. I bound them tightly in Harakeke to keep them dry. Early the next morning without anyone seeing me, I set out across the lake. The water was icy cold but I was determined to be the first person to swim across the lake.

I crossed lake Whakatipu Wai Māori using what is called Cecil and Walter Peaks as my guide, the mountain tops ‘twinkled and winked’ with dawn’s first light. I landed on what is now called Refuge Point and used the fire sticks and raupo to light a fire to warm me up like my father had taught me, and guess what, this is why the rocks are black to this very day!

In the morning tōku whānau in Te Kararo – back at my pā – saw the smoke, they thought they were under attack (laughs) that was until my pāpā noticed I wasn’t there and remembered what I had asked for the day before.

My pāpā, Chief Tuwiriroa was so impressed by my bravery and endurance he named many landmarks after me including kā mauka which I used to guide me, the place where I lit my fire and the mauka where I watched the men swim.
These landmarks still hold my name to this day e te ao māori, What you all know as Refuge Point, we know as Te Ahi-a-Hakitekura. What you call Cecil and Walter Peaks, we call Kakamu-a-Hakitekura (the twinklings seen by Hakitekura) and what you call Bob’s Peak, we call Te Taumata-O-Hakiterkura.