River Whanganui

The Whanganui river is sacred to the Maori and it contains the ancestral spirit of the Ngati Haua tribe. 

The river was formed after two mountains came into conflict for the love of Mount Pihanga. The loser, Taranaki, tormented with rage, uprooted himself and gouged a valley towards the setting sun. Eventually Taranaki reached the ocean where he turned north before finding isolation on the West Coast of the North Island. A stream of cooling water sprang from the victorious mountain when the dust (and rocks) settled. The water filled and healed the wound Taranaki had made and the new river was called Whanganui.

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