Mokoia Island

Mokoia under stormy skies, seen from the south

Mokoia Island is located in Lake Rotorua in New Zealand. It has an area of 1.35 square kilometres. The island is a rhyolite lava dome, rising to 180 metres above the lake surface. It was formed after the Rotorua caldera collapsed and rhyolitic magma was pushed through the cracks. One of the cracks was below where Mokoia island is today. The foreshores of the island have geothermal springs with hot spring water forming the Hinemoa pool, known to locals as Waikimihia. It also has very rich volcanic soil, which was why the local Māori grew kumara on it. it was also a very good strategic location, which was why it was often fought over.

Mokoia Island is privately owned by local Māori iwi, who run it in conjunction with the New Zealand Department of Conservation. It is a bird sanctuary and access is limited to tour parties only. It is home to several rare species, including the North Island kōkako, the North Island brown kiwi, and a breeding population of the endangered North Island saddleback.[1]

The island is also the location of regular Mau rākau training camps in the Maori martial art of taiaha.

Hinemoa and Tutanekai

The island is sacred to Māori of the Te Arawa iwi, and is the location of one of the most famous legends of New Zealand, that of Hinemoa and Tutanekai, which has parallels with the classical Greek tale of Hero and Leander, and with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but with a happier ending.

According to legend, the two lovers were forbidden to marry, and Hinemoa's father Umukaria, a chief from the shores of the lake, ordered that she not be allowed to travel by canoe to Tutanekai's tribal village on the island. Hinemoa decided to swim 3.2 kilometres across the lake to the island, guided by the sound of Tutanekai's flute-playing. For flotation she wrapped rushes (a type of reed) around her and swam her way to the island.[2]


The widely known traditional Maori love song Pokarekare Ana is based on the story of Tutanekai and Hinemoa. The lyrics tell of Hinemoa's crossing the lake to reach Tutanekai.

See also

References

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Coordinates: 38°05′S 176°18′E / 38.083°S 176.300°E / -38.083; 176.300

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