Pou Tangaroa, Kaikoura, New Zealand
Posted by: 
greysman
S 42° 25.020 E 173° 42.384
59G E 722675 N 5300374
Tangaroa is the God of the Sea who overlooks this Pou, the Marker, that tells the story of this place.
Waymark Code: WMB0VE
Location: South Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 03/21/2011
Views: 9
The Moaori people that inhabited this place, the Kati Kuri, descended from Paikea who is said to have come to Aotearoa on the back of a whale. They have lived here since the island was first inhabited.
The Pou can be found in the grounds of Fyffe House on this headland south of Kaikoura, in the parcel of land formed by Avoca Street and Fyffe Quay, along the road to the seal colony at South Head.
The part of the inscription which expands on the Maori story reads:
A burial was found nearby and with the
body the largest moa egg so far discovered.
Overseeing [thePou] is Tangaroa god of the sea...
....at the bottom of the pou is a whale (tohora).
Kaikoura is famous for its whales.....
Next is the moa egg, which was rediscovered in
1857 by George Fyffe. It is believed that during
excavations to build it was uncovered by whalers.
Above the egg is a moa, a large bird that was an
important food source of the early Maori who
lived here.
The figure above this is a stylised human form
that represents the person that was buried here.
It does not have a head as the knowledge of who
this person was has been lost.
It's a pleasant place to walk and to sit and while away some time, thinking of those far off days and the privations suffered by the Maori and later by the European Settlers.