Kete Horowhenua

Location

Otaki

At one stage Otaki was part of the Horowhenua region and much of the history there overlaps ours here in the Horowhenua. We began our tour by meeting at the Red House Café at Te Horo, a historic store converted to a café then continued on to view different sites on the way to Otaki. At Otaki beach we drove out to the rivermouth and viewed places like Kapiti Island, stronghold of Te Rauparaha and drove past the site where the ship City of Auckland sank in 1878. The beautifully restored Rangiatea Church was our next stop where we visited the burial site of Te Rauparaha and a number of other historical people. The best moment came when we were given access to the inside of the church, to look at the work done in restoring it to its former glory. The next stop on the itinerary was the Catholic Church set up by French fathers in 1844. We continued on our trip and were fortunate to meet artists Hariata Ropata Tangahoe and Len Taylor at their exhibition in the Otaki Museum. Otaki Museum is situated in a former bank which has been beautifully restored.


Dark Otaki soil	Otaki River Mouth
The beautiful dark fertile soils of the Otaki area attracted early Maori and Pakeha settlers	Looking South towards Wellington, the Otaki River winds its way to the sea. Just North of this spot is the memorial to the City of Auckland which sank in 1878

Te Rauparaha's stronghold	Kapiti Island
Te Rauparaha lived here on Kapiti Island with his tribe for a number of years and successfully defended the island against attack	Kapiti Island is now a peaceful reserve, home to many protected native species

Te Wananga O Raukawa	One of the Historic buildings

Anglican Church	Anglican Church

Commemeration Stone Anglican Church	Te Rauparaha Memorial

Rangiatea Church	Rangiatea Church

Protected Cabbage Tree	Te Rauparaha's gravestone

Ruta and Tamihana Te Rauparaha	View of Otaki and church

Byron and Susie Brown	Pukekaraka Church

Pukekaraka Church Front	Time capsule

Inside Pukekaraka Church	Inside Pukekaraka church

Inside Pukekaraka Church	inside detail Pukekaraka

Stairs to choir loft	Pukekaraka church accommodation

church side view	Pukekaraka House

Pukekaraka House	Pukekaraka

Looking East towards Otaki Museum