Orepuki
Orepuki in Southland,
History
In pre-European times, local
According to Maori history several Ngati Mamoe Maori were killed by a tsunami while walking along the beach near Orepuki in the 1820s. They had been gathering fish at the Waiau River mouth in autumn as provisions for the winter period. The beach runs between the sea and a line of cliffs meaning that only a moderate tsunami of 2–4 metres high would have been needed to cause so many deaths. The likely source of the tsunami could have been an earthquake on the Fiordland or Puysegur faults.[1] There are questions around the exact date of this event as it is reliant entirely on unverified unnamed sources.
European sealer John Boultbee noted in 1827 that there was an "old and small" Māori village situated near present-day Orepuki.[citation needed] It seems likely that any trace of this village was washed away by later goldminers and their sluicing activities. The English translation of 'Orepuki' has been subject to numerous theories: Aro-puke or 'crumbling cliffs' being one of the more popular suggestions. In 1923, Henry P. Young, the former headmaster of Orepuki School, said in a talk to the Southland Branch of the N.Z. Society, published in the Southland Times, "the proper name is "Aropaki" and means a bright area or expanse." In Ngā Ingoa o Aotearoa: an oral dictionary of Māori placenames, recorded in 1992, local kaumātua (tribal elder) George Te Au offers as pronunciations both Ore-PUki and ō-RĀpaki.[2]
The European origins of Orepuki township begin with the discovery of gold in the beaches black sand in 1865. The first tent town of Hirstfield sprung up near Monkey Island (in the lee of which ships anchored). Several years later a slightly more permanent second township was constructed to the north of the present day village, known as Garfield. Mining operations however, dictated that this site was on gold bearing land and the people and their houses, including the school, shifted to the present site to allow further mining. On 25 May 1885 a
The area is famous for a number of former All Blacks, world champion shearers, and its odd trees which appear to be in a perpetual gale, even in complete calm (frequent strong salt winds from the sea have warped and bent many trees by nearly 90°).
Surrounding areas include Pahia, Round Hill, Wakapatu, Ruahine, Colac Bay, Garden Bay, Cosy Nook, Waihoaka, Te Waewae and Te Tua.
Nearby attractions
- Monkey Island; [4] a small island and mini lagoon off the southern end of the beach. Accessible during low tide, with a small walking track. Local Māori used the island as a traditional lookout for southern right whales and named it 'Te Puka o Tākitimu', or the 'Anchorstone of Tākitimu' waka/canoe.
- Gemstone Beach; [5] situated ½ km north of Orepuki, this wild beach contains semi-precious gemstone such as: garnet, orbicular jasper, garnet sands, rodinguite quartz, semi nephrite, fossil worm casts, oil shale and elusive sapphire.
- McCracken's rest; a rest area that provides spectacular panoramic coastal views from Port Craig.
References
- ^ Downes, G; et al. (November 2005). "EQC Project 03/490 - Understanding local source tsunami: 1820s Southland tsunami. Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences client report 2005/153 - Project Number: 410W1034. National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research Consultancy report HAM2005-135 - Project Number: EQC04201" (PDF). New Zealand: Toka Tū Ake EQC. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
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(help) - ^ Ngā Ingoa o Aotearoa: an oral dictionary of Māori placenames, Track 167, Western Southland http://ingoa.nz/old/all-tks/167.wma
External links
- Riverton to Orepuki Goldfields
- A trip from Riverton to Orepuki in 1860 [6]
- Orepuki on the Western Southland Website
- A to Z guide. [7]