Mahinga kai/mahika kai is about the value of natural resources that sustain life, including the life of people. It is important to manage and protect these resources, in the same way that ancestors have done before us. For Ngāi Tahu, it is critical to manage these resources to allow people to continue gathering kai (food) in the way the ancestors did, and about mana and manaakitanga - the ability to welcome and host visitors by providing bountiful produce, as a demonstration of hospitality and respect. These things are the essence of kaitiakitanga, or what many people today call guardianship. This practice remains a foundation of Ngāi Tahu values today, although it has become increasingly difficult as sites, species, and habitats are lost, degraded, or compromised. - ecan.govt.nz/mahinga-kai
'Te toto o te tangata, he kai; te oranga o te tangata, he whenua' - Food supplies the blood of the people; their welfare depends on the land
Mahinga kai/mahika kai literally means 'to work the food' and relates to the traditional value of food resources and their ecosystems, as well as the practices involved in producing, procuring, and protecting these resources.
Mahika kai literally means 'to work the food' and relates to the traditional value of food resources and their ecosystems, as well as the practices involved in producing, procuring, and protecting these resources. LEFT Tuna (eel) on display at the South Canterbury Museum. RIGHT Mōkihi display at Te Ana Ngāi Tahu Māori Rock Art Centre.
The coastline was abundant in marine life and offered bountiful mahika kai (food resources) for local Māori. There was an abundance of fish and shellfish on the reefs, plenty of sea birds, eggs and seal pups on the coast and tuna (eels), waterfowl and freshwater fish in the estuaries and rivers. Tuna (eel) and inaka (whitebait) patete (fish), and kōareare (the edible rhizome of raupō/bullrushes) were also important staples of the area.
Travel by sea was common and much faster than travelling by land. Many settlements were within sight of each other and only hours away in settled weather by waka (canoe) or the double-hulled waka hunua. Trading of food and resources between villages up and down the coast was an important part of the economy. Pounamu (greenstone) and titi (sooty shearwaters /muttonbirds) were sent north to trade in return for kūmara, taro, stone and carvings.
Rivers were like highways inland. Tākata whenua (local people) foraged inland for weka, ducks, harakeke (flax), aruhe (fern root/bracken) and tī kōuka (cabbage tree) and lowland forests provided a wide range of timber and forest birds.
Southern Māori developed a special vessel to navigate the fast-flowing braided rivers: the mōkihi. Made from bundled raupō (bullrushes) or kōrari (the flower stakes of the harakeke flax bush). They were lightweight, sturdy and could be made on the spot to guide down the river carrying heavy loads. The largest mōkihi could carry up to half a tonne in weight.
It was a long trek from the coast to the inland lakes and mountains, but mōkihi could make the return journey in a single day. Because there was no way to bring them back up-river they were often used just once. If they were to cross a river, there were left in a dry spot for the next party to use.
Local Māori communities have faced massive changes over the past 150 years as a result of European settlement, including loss of traditional food resources especially as the coastline changed and the city expanded.
Imagine how challenging it was to cross the rivers in South Canterbury before ferry's and bridges were constructed. The first bridge across the Rangitata, built in 1872 was 1,100 feet of wrought iron trusses resting on cast iron cylinders. The northern approach was washed out in 1878 and 800 feet of timber trusses were added. Imagine crossing the Rangitata River before the bride was built. Rangatata Traffic Bridge. From the album: Scenes of New Zealand, circa 1880, Timaru, by Messrs. F. Bradley & Co. Te Papa (O.042416) Read an article about this in the Timaru Herald.
Rangatata Traffic Bridge. From the album: Scenes of New Zealand, circa 1880, Timaru, by Messrs. F. Bradley & Co. Te Papa (O.042416)
Traffic Bridge, Temuka, 1912, Temuka, by Muir & Moodie. Te Papa (O.001799)
Ferry at Lake Pukaki ca 1880s - 1890s - PAColl-4746: Woodhouse, Airini Elizabeth, 1896-1989: Photographs of Timaru - Tiaki Reference Number: 1/2-031042-F
Mōkihi are among the few human-made objects to be depicted in southern rock art. Mōkihi display at Te Ana Ngāi Tahu Māori Rock Art Centre.
The Playground Center tweaked there see-saw design so it felt like people were using a mokihi. The see saw is 4m long. You can walk along the net, as it gently rocks. Features steel frame and the herules cable construction.
The Mahika Kai stories have inspired a play space for our under 5 year olds. With a bespoke whare meeting house designed by CPlay design team and architect John Rushton.
Frangapani detail to represent pacifica people, and the tuna eels journey to the Kermadec Trench, (submarine trench in the floor of the South Pacific Ocean) where the Tuna continue their life cycle to lay eggs.
Timaru
"Timaru was an integral component of the extensive Ngāi Tahu network of kāinga nohoanga (settlement) and kāinga mahinga kai (food-gathering places) located throughout South Canterbury. Situated south of the prominent Te Waiateruati pā, Hoani Kahu from Arowhenua described Timaru as 'he pā nō mua, he kāinga nohoaka tūturu, he tūahu tapu, he urupā tūpapa, and he tauranga waka.' The foods gathered at Timaru included ika (fish), makō (shark), hāpuku (groper), pipi, pāua, kina, and kaeo." - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas
Waitarakao "Washdyke Lagoon"
"Waitarakao (Washdyke Lagoon) is the brackish shallow coastal lagoon south of Tīmaru on Kā Poupou-a-Rakihouia (the South Canterbury coastline). Waitarakao was a renowned kāinga mahinga kai (food-gathering area) for local Ngāi Tahu, with foods gathered there including tuna (eels), inaka (whitebait), patete (fish), and kōareare (the edible rhizome of raupō). Hoani Kāhu from Arowhenua described Waitarakao as an example of where a significant mahinga kai resource has been degraded." - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas
Waimātaitai
"Waimātaitai was a hāpua (lagoon) situated near the Tīmaru foreshore, renowned as an important source of mahinga kai. In 1880 Hoani Kāhu from Arowhenua described Waimātaitai as “e rauiri” (an eel weir) where tuna (eel) and inaka (whitebait) were gathered. This saltwater lagoon was eventually lost in 1933 due to changes in sediment drift caused by the creation of the Port of Tīmaru." - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas
These are some of the plants and animals in the Caroline Bay area that are Taonga (treasures) because, they are central to the identity and well being of many Māori. They also have an important role in healthy eco-systems.
The harbour coastal waters are of strong cultural value to Te Rūnanga O Ngāi Tahu. Te Rūnanga O Ngāi Tahu
Common Name / Maori Name - Scientific Name
Antarctic Skua / Hākoakoa - Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi
Australian Magpie / Makipai - Gymnorhina tibicen
Black Backed Gull / Karoro
Brown Booby - Sula leucogaster
Broadbilled Prion / Pararā - Pachyptila vittata
Bittern / Matuku Hūrepo - Botaurus poiciloptilus
Californian Quail / Tikaokao - Callipepla californica
Little blue penguin / Kororā - Eudyptula minor
Mute Swan / Wāna - Cygnus olor
North Island Brown Kiwi / Kiwi-nui / Apteryx mantelli
Sacred Kingfisher / Kōtare - Todiramphus sanctus
Salvin’s Mollymawk / Toroa - Thalassarche salvini
Spotted Shag / Parekareka / Kawau / tikitiki - Phalacrocorax punctatus
Shinning Cuckoo / Pīwīwharauroa - Chrysococcyx lucidus
Marsh Crake / Koitareke - Porzana pusilla affinis
Nanking Night Heron / Umu kōtuku - Nycticorax caledonicus
Pukeko/Swamp hen / Pukeko - Porphyrio melanotus
Rhode Island Red Rooster / Heihei - Gallus gallus domesticus
White Fronted Turn / Tara - Sterna striata
Tuna - eel
Tuna is a generic Māori word for freshwater eels. Māori have over 100 names for eels.
They live: in lakes and rivers connected to the sea.
They eat: small insects larvae, snails, midges and crustaceans. As their mouths get bigger, they can eat kōura (freshwater crayfish), fish, small birds and rats. When scared they bite!
Did you know: they are the largest fish in Aotearoa freshwaters
There are three tuna eel species in NZ: The longfin eel, known as tuna, is one of the largest eels in the world.
LONGFIN EEL: (Anguilla dieffenbachii) Max size: 2m, 25kg
SHORTFIN EEL: (Anguilla australis) Max size: 1.1 metre, 3kg
AUSTRALIAN LONGFIN EEL: (Anguilla reinhardtii), Max size: 2 metres, 21kg
They are a taonga species: central to the identity and well being of many Māori and are a significant mahinga kai (food).
Traditional knowledge
Tuna is a generic Māori word for freshwater eels; however, but there are a multitude of names that relate variously to tribal origins, appearance, coloration, season of the year, eel size, eel behavior, locality, and capture method. Tuna are arguably one of the most important mahinga kai resources for Māori. They were abundant, easily caught, and highly nutritious. Tuna were especially important in southern New Zealand, where it was too cold to grow some crop foods. Some tuna were considered sacred, and on occasion large eels were fed and noted to be treated as gods.
Many methods were used to take tuna - a common method for capturing adult tuna was using baited hīnaki, while juvenile tuna were taken on their upstream migration in bunches of fern. Tuna were often stored live in large pots for later consumption or hung to dry.
Tuna or freshwater eels are a very significant, widely-valued, heavily-exploited, culturally iconic mahinga kai resource. Although there are many stories and legends of tuna spawning in freshwater, what is certain is that all freshwater eels spawn at sea. Adult freshwater (living in streams, lakes, wetlands) can live up to 100 year old. They feed on insects, snails, fish, and even birds. Female tuna can reach 2 meters long. They leave their home and migrate thousands of kilometres from the fresh water to the sea water into the Pacific Ocean to release eggs and sperm in a process called spawning. Their eggs hatch far in the South Pacific Ocean near Tonga. They are very small and can only be seen using a microscope. The fertilised eggs then develop into larvae called leptocephali, which travel back to New Zealand drifting via ocean currents over 9-12 months and eventually arrive in New Zealand. Eels then enter our rivers as small juveniles that are known as glass eels. They are about 60-75 mm long. After several weeks in the fresh water the darken an become known as an elver. They migrate upstream during the summer. They are able to climb obstacles until they get to 120mm length. - niwa.co.nz/life-cycle
ABOVE: Map of the pacific ocean and "ring of fire" showing the edge of the techtonic plate that forms the Alpine Fault line in New Zealand, and the Kermadec and Tonga Trench's. The Kermadec Trench is one of Earth's deepest oceanic trenches. Every year, a proportion of eels mature and migrate to sea to spawn. Downstream migrations normally occur at night during the dark phases of the moon, and are often triggered by high rainfall and floods. National Geographic
Location of archival pop-up tags ascent locations on four longfin eels tagged and released from south of Christchurch. The tags were programmed to release from each eel at a different time. Once the tags came up to the ocean surface they sent all of the data they had been collecting via satellite to NIWA scientists eagerly awaiting the results. Credit: Don Jellyman
'Ka hāhā te tuna ki te roto; ka hāhā te reo ke te kaika; ka hāhā te takata ki te whenua' - If there is no tuna (eels) in the lake; there will be no language or culture resounding in the home; and no people on the land; however, if there are tuna in the lake; language and culture will thrive; and the people will live proudly on the land - Nā Charisma Rangipuna i tuhi
They are legendary climbers and have penetrated well inland in most river systems, even those with natural barriers.
Elver eels wiggling their way into Lake Opuha via the Elver Bypass 2023. Photo's Supplied by Opuha Water Limited (OWL)
Elver bypasses on the Opuha Dam infrastructure ensure tuna/eels can continue their migration up the Opuha River into Lake Opuha. Here you can see little Elver (juvenile tuna/eels) at the Opuha Dam. They wiggle their way up the elver bypass, a special pipe which runs up the side of the 50m high dam from the Opuha River, and drops down the other side into the lake.
Elvers migrate upstream, typically between late November and early March, when temperatures reach about 16°C. They are able to climb damp vertical surfaces until they are about 12 cm long, at which size they are too heavy to stick using surface tension.
Most high dams in New Zealand are now equipped with bypasses, eel ladders and/or have trap and transfer operations. What is reasonably uncommon in NZ is monitoring to understand the effectiveness of the bypasses. To help fill this gap in knowledge, Opuha Water Ltd (OWL) are currently doing some small modifications to the elver bypass boxes to enable their team to temporarily catch and count how many elver are going into the lake.
OWL doesn't have a mechanism to provide for adult tuna to migrate downstream but are actively pursuing opportunities to establish a trap and transfer programme, whereby adult eel are netted and transferred downstream below the dam where they can then migrate out to sea.
Above: The Lake Opuha Dam was built in the late 1990's. Lake Opuha is a 700 hectare man-made lake, built as an irrigation reservoir as an infrastructure project undertaken by the community of South Canterbury. The Opuha Dam, (where the North and South Opuha Rivers meet near Fairlie), also generates electricity before water flows on to meet the Opihi River further down stream.
As well as the increased value of the farms and the farming activities, the reliable irrigation has provides growth for various vegetable processing exporting operations in Washdyke and has supported the growth of the massive dairy processing facility at nearby Clandeboye.
The 7MW power station contributes to the local electricity network and the revenue from the electricity sales accounts for approximately half of the company’s income.
In this map you can see the Waimataitai Lagoon before it was drained and turned into a park. The stream was piped underground and can be seen at the golf course. Miscellaneous Plans - Borough of Timaru, South Canterbury, 1911 - T.N. Brodrick, Chief Surveyor Canterbury ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/IE31423732
Above you can see the stream that runs past Timaru Top 10 Holiday Park. This runs under Ashbury Park to sea. The park used to be a large tuna weir. "Waimātaitai was a hāpua (lagoon) renowned as an important source of mahinga kai. In 1880 Hoani Kāhu from Arowhenua described Waimātaitai as “e rauiri” (an eel weir) where tuna (eel) and inaka (whitebait) were gathered. This saltwater lagoon was eventually lost in 1933 due to changes in sediment drift caused by the creation of the Port of Tīmaru." - kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas
What was once a lagoon, is now Ashbury Park. Aerial view of Timaru, showing Caroline Bay, harbour and town between 1920 and 1939. - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections FDM-0690-G
This 1874 sketch is from Benvenue Cliffs looking to Dashing rocks. You can see the spit that used to be here and the lagoon on the left. Eliot was here taking measurements to draw the Harbour construction plans. After the breakwater was started in 1878, it was noticed that the shingle bank was being eroded. In the early 1800s, basalt rock was brought in to protect the bank and the rail way behind it. By the 1820s the lagoon was under threat, it was filled in and by 1935 the Waimataitai Lagoon was gone.
- Eliot, Whately. 1874, Near Timaru, N.Z., Sept. 23, 1874 , viewed 27 April 2023 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138582026
Te Waipounamu and Mahinga Kai
The South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, known as Te Waipounamu (the pounamu waters), has carried various names, including "Middle Island," Te Waka ā Māui (Māui’s canoe), and Te Waka ō Aoraki (Aoraki's capsized canoe, forming the Southern Alps).
Compared to the warmer North Island, Te Waipounamu’s rugged, mountainous landscape made permanent inland habitation challenging, with most settlements located along coasts, rivers, and lakes. Plant cultivation, like kūmara, was rare due to the colder climate, though kūmara pits were recorded near Temuka. Life here relied heavily on mahinga kai—the practice of hunting and gathering food across large areas, with people moving seasonally between camps.
Many of the stories told relate historical figures to the places they settled and the resources that they found there that attracted them to these sites such as Rāpaki and Te Rakiwhakaputa. Te Waipounamu was an attractive destination for successive migrations of whānau and hapū groups who came from the north to utilise the resources to be found there. The rich abundance of birds, fish, sea mammals, eels and shellfish sustained these settlements with each district having its own specialties:
- Kaikōura – Kakapō, Karaka, Kōura
- Kaiapoi – Weka, Kūmara, Taiwhatiwhati (Tuatua)
- Whakaraupō – Pīoke (Sand shark)
- Waihora & Wairewa – Pātiki (Flounder), Tuna (Eels), Pūtakitaki (Paradise ducks)
- Horomaka – Kererū, Pāua, Kina
- Arowhenua – Tī Kaurū (from Tī Kōuka)
- Ōtākou – Tuaki (Cockles)
- Murihiku – Kanakana (Blind eels)
- Rakaia River – Moa
- Rakiura – Tītī (Muttonbirds)
These foods were often stored and transported in pōhā (kelp bags). Kaiapoi Pā, named by Tūrakautahi as Kai-a-poi (to "swing food in"), became a key trade hub where hapū exchanged regional delicacies and sought-after pounamu (greenstone).
Archaeological sites near Pegasus, known as Te Kohaka o Kaikai a Waro, reveal extensive pounamu working areas, highlighting the importance of greenstone manufacture and trade throughout Te Waipounamu.
Title: Sketch of Middle Island (New Zealand) shewing the East Coast as laid down by Captn. Stokes.
Date: 1850
Physical Description: 1 map : colour ; 33 x 32 cm.
File Reference: CCLMaps 440866-2
Title: Middle Island : sketch of country to northward of the great southern plain, from examination and information, collected chiefly from Natives.
Date: 1850
Physical Description: 1 map : colour ; 44 x 53 cm.
Scale etc: Scale [ca. 1:422,400].
File Reference: CCLMaps 440868-1
Tuna / eels in the steam that runs beside the holiday park. This stream connects to a underground drain under Ashbury Park, Waimataitai Beach. Photo Supplied by Timaru Top 10 Holiday Park
Niwa has published an climate report "Understanding Taonga Freshwater Fish Populations in Aotearoa-New Zealand" here: https://waimaori.maori.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Understanding-Taonga-Freshwater-Fish-Populations-in-Aotearoa-New-Zealand.pdf
Tī kōuka - cabbage tree
Tī kōuka (Cordyline Australis) can grow to be 20m tall with a skinny trunk and sword like leaves. They are so resilient, that they are often the last indigenous plant to persist within cleared land.
Did you know: They were a significant food source for early Māori and provided a fibre resource prized for its strength. A good stand of trees is known as a para–kauru, with kauru being the name given to the food processed from the cabbage tree. They are also used for Rongoa (Medicine).
Super power: The fibre doesn’t shrink in water and is super strong and is used for making rope, kete baskets, clothing.
They help the eco system by: using strong root systems to helps stop soil erosion and tolerate wet soil.
They are a taonga species: central to the identity and well being of many Māori and are a important as food, fibre and medicine.
Kina - sea egg - urchin
They look: like a rolled up hedgehog and am the largest of our native urchins.
They live: around coastal reefs - 11 of the 70 sea urchin species in NZ can be found in coastal reefs.
They eat: plants and animals, but prefer brown seaweed. My mouth has a five-sided limy structure known as Aristotle's Lantern. My set of jaws and teeth help me grind up food.
Did you know? They are some of the noisiest species found on NZ reefs. At dusk, they create an “evening chorus” in the sea. This is the sound (which humans can hear) of their jaws grinding food. The sound bounces around and amplifies in our shells.
Super powers: Using fearsome spines to protect from predators. They also I hold bits of weed, shell and gravel on as camoflauge. Though they are small (16–17cm) they are no match for rock lobsters, snapper or seven armed starfish.
They help the eco system by: controlling and balancing the distribution of kelps and other encrusting species.
They are a taonga species: central to the identity and well being of many Māori and are a significant mahinga kai (food).
Inanga - white bait
Whitebait is a term for small 4-5cm long freshwater fish that are tender and edible. Inanga (Galaxias maculatus) are the most common native fish species caught as whitebait. Other species that make up the whitebait catch are banded kokopu, giant kokopu, kōaro and shortjaw kokopu. These species are all migratory galaxiids.
Did you know: Their life begins as a egg laid in vegetation beside streams in late summer and autumn around the high water mark. After they are born in freshwater, they are swept out to sea with the tide. They return after 6 months and migrate upstream as whitebait and grow into adult fish by Autumn. They they are a mature fish, they will swim back down river to spawn in the estuaries. They usually live for one year. Most females only have one opportunity to spawn. If she finds good quality spawning habitat then about 80% of those eggs will survive.
Super power: You can see straight through them.
They help the eco system: as a food source in the marine food chain and help clean the ocean by filter feeding.
They are a taonga species: central to the identity and well being of many Māori and are a significant mahinga kai (food).
Pipi
Pipi belong to the Mesodesmatidae family (clams) and are about 4–6cm long.
Did you know: they are a little fish that lives inside a shell.
To eat: they use their strong foot to burrow 10cm deep into the sand. They strain the water to find food particles like phytoplankton. As a filter feeder, they help keep the water clean which is important for the ecosystem.
My super power is: they can create a thread of mucus to make myself float in the water and move to a new location
I help the eco system: as a food source in the marine food chain and help clean the ocean by filter feeding.
They are a taonga species: central to the identity and well being of many Māori and are a significant mahinga kai (food).
Moa
Moa were large, plant-eating birds that once roamed the entirety of Aotearoa New Zealand. The moa became extinct between 1400 and 1500 AD. Currently, we know of nine described moa species, spread across six genera and three families. Moa come in many shapes and sizes, which has been attributed to New Zealand’s geological history (for example, glaciations and tectonic movement), sexual dimorphism and differences in habitat, climate and diet.
This variability has made species identification contentious since European scientists first came across moa bones in the 1840s. The number of moa species was once overestimated to be in the high twenties and over time 64 different scientific names have been assigned to moa species.
The evolution of moa is complex and not fully understood. Most of our knowledge has been obtained from specimens less than 10,000 years old which means we know very little about 99.9% of their evolution over 60 million years. However, through DNA technology scientists have discovered that all the currently described moa species descend from a common ancestor that inhabited New Zealand around 3.5 million years ago. A number of significant glaciations occurred between then and the time moa went extinct, each time resulting in a bottleneck followed by an increase in the number of species. Land bridges would also form between islands when the sea level was low during glaciations, enabling moa to disperse and migrate throughout the country. - https://www.canterburymuseum.com/explore/our-stories/know-your-moa
New Zealand’s extinct Haast’s Eagle (Hieraaetus moorei), the largest known eagle, gulped down viscera like a vulture. While most eagles hunt prey that is smaller than them, the Haast’s Eagle was going after moa that could weigh up to 200 kg – more than 13 times their own body weight.
"It was near this point in 1889 that bones of the moa species Anomalopteryx Didiformis were discovered during quarrying operations. The bones could be as old as 2.4 million years and maybe the oldest yet found in NA. The species of moa was relatively small at around 1 metre in height and is generally thought to have occurred in upload areas or at lower altitudes during the ice ages."
This wee track at Centennial Park follows the old rail line that was used to shunt rock from the quarry to the coast for the Harbour and coastal erosion control. Also where the oldest Moa bones have been found! Lava flowed through here to what is now the sea from Mount Horrible 2 million years ago.
The Timaru Harbour Board once owned much of the land at Centennial Park, which was worked as a quarry in the late 1800s to provide a source of harbour-protection rock for the development of the Port of Timaru. Several quarries were operated, one at the Gleniti end of the reserve and others throughout the stretch of the gully, each supplying rock via a railway leading from Otipua Rd. The last of the lines was dismantled in late 1959. The Moa bones were found when rock was being removed for the building of the North Mole by Palliser and Co. The bones are believed to be the oldest discovered to date with the clay found under the bones being described as being from the Pliocene Age (2 to 7 million years ago).
During 1934-35 negotiations took place between the Timaru Harbour Board, representative of the estate of J King, and the Timaru Borough Council to acquire land for a reserve in the western sector of the borough. The land lay from Claremont Rd stretching east to the end of Quarry Rd. About 32 hectares was bought for the equivalent of $1060. However, the harbour board maintained its right to quarry in the reserve until 1975.
About the time the reserve was created, George Bowker, a local real estate man, donated 6.5ha of land adjoining the Otipua Rd reserve. That enabled a central accessway to the site in the area of the large bluestone Bowker Gates opposite Church St. In 1938 it was formally opened and named the Scenic Reserve; however, by 1940 it had been renamed Centennial Park marking the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Basalt (cooled lava) being quarried at Centenial Park. - Harbour Board Quarry, Timaru, New Zealand, by Muir & Moodie. Te Papa (C.014398)
The rock being transported to the Port of Timaru. Here you can see wagons that were operated by the Timaru Harbour Board's Otupua Tramway which ran from the Eastern Extension to the quarries in what is today's Scnenic Reserve they date back to 1900. The Tramway closed in 1958. The "six wheeled tipping wagons" are now on display at the Pleasant Point Railway Museum.
North Otago Times, 11 November 1891, Page 4
The bone of a small species of Moa, found two years ago under it lava stream at Timaru, are still older and probably upper miocene.
Timaru Herald, 28 September 1894, Page 2
As some of the Borough Council's men were trimming up the footpath on Forth street at the foot of the bank cutting below St Mary's Church they came across a moa's leg bone m the solid clay. The bone was nearly at the footpath level, or twelve feet below the original ground surface. It was of good size, but not a large one as moa bones go, As usual with bones found m the clay it is in a soft cheesy condition
O Wahi Moa, Valley of the Moa, Craigmore. Photos by Roselyn Fauth
The plaque at this rock art site, says they could have been created over 500 years ago. It's fascinating to imagine what life could have been like here in NZ. Forests, Moa roaming this valley... the Haast Eagle swooping above. Maybe Māori were planting and harvesting Te Kouka Cabbage Tree for food and fiber, lighting fires to cook on and stay warm. Maybe using the charcoal and animal fats to make their pigment and create the legacy we can see today. Some say they look like giant moas, eagles, dogs and people.
Take your thoughts way further back into time... imagine how the limestone formed. Organisms died, their shells accumulated on the seafloor. The soft parts decayed, leaving the hard shells to be broken down by sea currents and preditors. Over long periods of time, the sediments were transformed into limestone. The sea bed is thrust up from the ocean and weathered by the wind and rain. The patterns and forms in the fizzy rock are interesting. The stone is used for heaps of things like road chip, construction and fertilizer. Early pioneers cooked it in kilns to render walls. You can see an old kiln in Pareora and Kakanui.
In 2021, Joe Grossman found what looked like moa foot prints near Brown's Beach north of Timaru. South Canterbury Museum director Phillip Howe, said the location, in which the footprints were found, would have been covered in scrub and forest 14,000 years ago. “The forest floor is sometimes exposed by sea action.”
Chris Sargent, right, and South Canterbury Museum director Philip Howe with the moa bones and footprints that Sargent found at Paeora beach. They are the Canterbury region’s first set of confirmed moa footprints, according to a senior curator. On August 12th 2022, photographs of the clearest footprint were taken so a 3-D model could be made.Plaster casts were formed and the prints were excavated. Moa bones found at the site were donated the bones to the museum. The site had been exposed at Pareora Beach when heavy rains caused a pond behind the beach to burst, scouring out the shingle that covered the hard mud layer with the prints. It is believed they belong to a heavy-footed moa or a giant moa from the Holocene period, meaning it was less than 12,000 years old.
Photogrammetry image of a single moa footprint 12 August 2022, Pareora. Photos taken by Philip Howe South Canterbury Museum.
Climate change resources
- Canterbury’s Changing Climate, an educational resource for schools and communities – full resource, 2020 (PDF file, 23.6MB)
- Canterbury’s Changing Climate, an educational resource for schools and communities – background section, 2020 (PDF file, 13.9MB)
- Canterbury’s Changing Climate, an educational resource for schools and communities – Everyday Superheroes, practical ideas for taking action, 2020 (PDF file, 4.8MB)
- Canterbury’s Changing Climate, an educational resource for schools and communities – classroom activities, 2020 (PDF file, 4.4MB)
Coastal environment resources
- Canterbury’s Spectacular Coast 2004, (PDF file, 17.9MB)
- Canterbury’s Spectacular Coast – Coastal Dunes, 2022 (PDF file, 13.1MB)
- Canterbury’s Spectacular Coast – Rocky Shore, 2016 (PDF file, 4MB)
- Canterbury’s Spectacular Coast – Coastal Wetlands, 2016 (PDF file, 1.6MB)
Pengiun Feet at Marine Parade end of Caroline Bay Timaru.