Haungaroa

Haungaroa was legendary Māori woman, who travelled from Hawaiki to New Zealand to warn Ngātoro-i-rangi that Manaia was planning to attack him.

She was responsible for naming Kaingaroa Forest and various other places in central North Island, according to Te Arawa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa traditions.

[1] Some time after the departure of the Arawa canoe from Hawaiki, Manaia held a feast, at which the food cooked by his wife, Kuiwai, was found to be under-cooked.

Kuiwai invoked the gods Kahukura, Itupawa, and Rongomai and received approval to send warning to Ngātoro-i-rangi, who was in New Zealand at this time.

[3] John Te Herekiekie Grace reports the Tūwharetoa tradition according to which Haungaroa and Kuiwai travelled with a man called Tanewhakaraka and two maids in the canoe Rewarewa and made landfall at Tawhiuwhiu in Hawkes' Bay.

[2] Stafford says that they were carried over the sea by the gods, until they reached Whakaari / White Island and came ashore at Tawhiuwhiu.

[4][5] According to Grace, the god Horomatangi, who had been brought to New Zealand by Ngātoro-i-rangi, came from Whakaari / White Island to guide the travellers.

[4] The travellers caught sight of Lake Rotorua at Piopio and stopped to enjoy the view at the east end of Te Tihi-o-tonga.