Mount Maunganui (mountain)

See that big hill over there, the one locals call The Mount? That's Mount Maunganui, or Mauao. It’s a 232-meter lava dome right at the eastern entrance to Tauranga Harbour.

Māori here consider Mauao to be sacred, and they actually own the mountain, managing it with the Tauranga City Council. It’s a popular spot for walks, jogging, and even paragliding. They’ve had some fires and storm damage recently, requiring replanting and track repairs.

The name ‘Maunganui’ means ‘big mountain,’ so ‘Mount Maunganui’ is a bit of a repeat – like ‘mountain big mountain.’ The alternative name, ‘Mauao,’ means ‘caught by the morning sun.’

Geologically, it's a prominent rhyolite lava dome, part of a group of domes that are between 1.95 and 2.89 million years old. The youngest volcanic deposits here are about 2.35 million years old. Back during the Last Glacial Maximum, when sea levels were much lower, this whole area was dry, connecting Mauao to the mainland. Then, as sea levels rose, it became an island before marine deposits formed a tombolo about 4,000 years ago, connecting it back.

There’s a Māori legend about a nameless hill, who was in love with a hill called Puwhenua, but she loved Otanewainuku. So, the nameless one decided to drown himself in the Pacific Ocean and called on the patupaiarehe, or fairy people, to help. They tried to drag him to the sea at night, but daybreak arrived too soon, catching the nameless hill. The patupaiarehe gave him the name Mauao, meaning ‘caught by the dawn,’ and retreated into the forest. This mountain eventually became a symbol for all the tribes of Tauranga Moana.

The name Tauranga itself means ‘place of rest’ or ‘anchorage.’ The earliest people here were the Purukupenga and the Ngamarama. The Tainui canoe made a brief stay, and the Te Arawa canoe landed nearby. The Takitimu canoe’s captain, Tamatea Arikinui, climbed to the summit of Mauao to offer prayers and bury the life force of his people. Tamatea built a pā, a stockaded village, on Maungatawa. Later, around 1700, Ngaiterangi took over the pā on Mauao in a battle known as the ‘Battle of the Kokowai.’ There's archaeological evidence of three pā sites on and around Mauao. The last battle here was with Ngapuhi in 1820, who were armed with muskets. After that, the large pā site wasn't re-occupied, and a peace was made.