History
The Naming of Te Kopahou
Te Kopahou is the ridge beginning at Highbury forming the eastern side of the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, continuing south between the Silver Stream tributary of Karori Stream and the headwaters of Owhiro Stream, reaching Cook Strait at Sinclair Head (Rimurapa).
Te Kopahou was also a pa site of Ngati-Rangi and Ngati-Hikerata burned by Te Rauparaha c.1850. Site unknown. (From The Great Harbour of Tara, G. Leslie Adkin, 1959, p.32). An approximate translation is "A bent or folded feather".
Naming of Red Rocks
Red Rocks and its surrounding reserve are of national significance.
Maori traditions provide three explanations for the colour of Red Rocks (Pariwhero):
Maui stained the rocks with blood from his nose (blood which he used to bait his hook prior to catching Te-Ika-a-Maui — the North Island). The rocks are also associated with the legend of Kupe. In one story Kupe got his hand clamped by a live paua shell-fish and his blood stained the rocks; in another, Kupe's daughters cut themselves in grief at a long absence of their father, fearing him lost.
Traditional evidence suggests that Ngati Mamoe had an ancient pa called Taumata-patiti in the bay east of Sinclair Head, and a pa called Makurerua in the hills behind the bay. There are also several archaeological sites, including middens and terraces, in the area. The karaka grove also indicates Maori occupation.
TeKauae-o-Poua rock
'The jaw-bone of Poua',is a large isolated rock near Sinclair Head. It is said that the Ngati-Ira people of Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour) had a proverb: "Kia mahaki ra ano te kauae o Poua, Katahi ka riro ai te whenua" which means "when the jaw-bone of Poua becomes loose, then only will the land be lost [or pass into other hands]".
Mohuia rock
A rock of Sinclair Head, named for a daughter or niece of Kupe. There are three big sea-washed rocks off the point named, on a rock islet, and another about half a kilometre away. The tall isolated rock is Mohuia.
