Moeraki
Encyclopedia
Moeraki is a small fishing village on the east coast of the South Island
of New Zealand
. It was once the location of a whaling station. In the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago
area and a railway line, the Moeraki Branch
, was built to the settlement and opened in 1877. However, the port could not compete with Oamaru
and the lack of traffic as well as stability problems caused by difficult terrain led to the closure of the railway in 1879 after only two years of operation.
The village is best known for the nearby Moeraki Boulders
.
.
, conventionally the third iwi, or tribe, to arrive in southern New Zealand, after Kahui Tipua and Te Rapuwai. Waitaha's expedition leader was Rakaihautu. However, as McLean notes, 'Waitaha' is also a name simply used to designate all the peoples preceding Kati Mamoe and Kai Tahu ('Ngāti Mamoe' and 'Ngāi Tahu
' in modern standard Māori) the last two arrivals before the European. It is safe to say Waimatatai is a 'Waitaha' site in that broad sense but there are no specific families it can be linked to.
The Moeraki peninsula terminates to the south in Kartigi Point ('Katiki' in modern standard Māori) where there was a pā
(fortified settlement) of the Classic period of Māori culture. Its traditional name was Te Raka-a-hineatua. According to tradition it was built by Taoka, a well known fighting chief of the late 17th to early 18th centuries, who also built fortresses at the Ashburton River
and near Timaru
. Shortly after it was built it was attacked by a party from Kaikoura
who were successfully repulsed by Taoka in the battle known as Te Hakopa. Taoka was also in battle with chiefs further south at Huriawa (modern Karitane
Peninsula), Mapoutahi (modern Goat Island Peninsula) and Pukekura (modern Taiaroa Head
). Taoka's principal opponent was Te Wera. Jill Hamel has reported there were terraces, the best developed of any southern pā
, and rectangular houses with stone fireplaces. Radio carbon dating has confirmed it was occupied in the 18th century.
It used to be said Moeraki, like many other places on the east coast, was not a site of permanent occupation in pre-European times, but a major study, published in 1996, shows that is unlikely.
Moeraki was traversed during the Sealers' War
, also known as the War of the Shirt, in 1814. In that year a party of eight men under Robert Brown including two other Europeans and five lascars, or Indian seamen, came up the east coast from Stewart Island/Rakiura
looking for a group of lascars who had absconded from the Matilda, Captain Samuel Fowler. According to the Creed manuscript, discovered in 2003, they camped for the night by their boat at 'the Bluff eight miles from Moeraki' to the north. However they were observed and attacked by Māori. Two of the sealers escaped and fled to Bobby's Head and Goodwood, south of Moeraki, taking two days to get there and where they were later killed and eaten. They will have passed Moeraki going north and fleeing south.
John Hughes, accompanied by W.I Haberfield and other men from the Weller brothers
' Otago whaling station
, established a whaling station in Moeraki Bay, Onekakara, on Boxing Day, December 26, 1836. Since that time European occupation has been continuous. When Hughes and his men arrived there were only nine Māori living in the area, under Takatahara. In 1838 a large group arrived under Matiaha Tiramorehu and settled, in close proximity to the whalers. Many of the latter married Māori women. Haberfield later maintained alcohol was absent at Moeraki, in striking contrast to more southerly stations, especially the one at Otago.
After 1839 whaling dwindled and ceased by the late 1840s, although there was later a brief revival. Even so some of the whalers stayed. There were European visitors in the early 1840s. After the Otago Association's settlement based at Dunedin further south in 1848 a Moeraki sheep run was leased by 1852. A 'Hundred' was declared in 1860, opening the area to closer rural settlement. From 1854 Moeraki Bay served as a port for North Otago starting the period of rivalry with the one at Oamaru described above. It was over by 1879. Since then Moeraki has been a fishing village, farming centre and coastal resort.
(1869-1947) who became New Zealand's best regarded expatriate artist, regularly visited Moeraki to paint local Maori. A number of those works are now in the collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery
, Dunedin
.
Keri Hulme
lived in Moeraki in the 1980s while she wrote her Booker-prize-winning novel 'The Bone People'.
Fleur Sullivan, the founder of the well-known Oliver's restaurant in Clyde, Central Otago, moved to Moeraki in the late 1990s and set up her distinctive waterside restaurant 'Fleur's Place'.
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It was once the location of a whaling station. In the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
area and a railway line, the Moeraki Branch
Moeraki Branch
The Moeraki Branch was one of the most short-lived railway lines in New Zealand. It left the Main South Line between Oamaru and Dunedin and served Port Moeraki between 1877 and 1879.-Construction and operation:...
, was built to the settlement and opened in 1877. However, the port could not compete with Oamaru
Oamaru
Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both...
and the lack of traffic as well as stability problems caused by difficult terrain led to the closure of the railway in 1879 after only two years of operation.
The village is best known for the nearby Moeraki Boulders
Moeraki Boulders
The Moeraki Boulders are unusually large and spherical boulders lying along a stretch of Koekohe Beach on the wave cut Otago coast of New Zealand between Moeraki and Hampden, and are located at . They occur scattered either as isolated or clusters of boulders within a stretch of beach where they...
.
Name
'Moeraki' is usually translated as 'sleepy sky'. There are other places with the same name or versions of it, all along the path from the Polynesian homeland, HawaikiHawaiki
In Māori mythology, Hawaiki is the homeland of the Māori, the original home of the Māori, before they travelled across the sea to New Zealand...
.
History
The south side of the Moeraki Peninsula has an Archaic (moa hunter) Māori site at Waimataitai lagoon, which Atholl Anderson dated as 13th century, placing it in the second wave of New Zealand's early human occupation. Gavin McLean tentatively linked its occupants to WaitahaWaitaha
Waitaha is an early historical Māori iwi . Inhabitants of the South Island of New Zealand, they were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest first by the Kāti Mamoe and then Ngāi Tahu from the 16th century onward....
, conventionally the third iwi, or tribe, to arrive in southern New Zealand, after Kahui Tipua and Te Rapuwai. Waitaha's expedition leader was Rakaihautu. However, as McLean notes, 'Waitaha' is also a name simply used to designate all the peoples preceding Kati Mamoe and Kai Tahu ('Ngāti Mamoe' and 'Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori iwi of the southern region of New Zealand, with the tribal authority, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, being based in Christchurch and Invercargill. The iwi combines three groups, Kāi Tahu itself, and Waitaha and Kāti Mamoe who lived in the South Island prior...
' in modern standard Māori) the last two arrivals before the European. It is safe to say Waimatatai is a 'Waitaha' site in that broad sense but there are no specific families it can be linked to.
The Moeraki peninsula terminates to the south in Kartigi Point ('Katiki' in modern standard Māori) where there was a pā
Pa (Maori)
The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
(fortified settlement) of the Classic period of Māori culture. Its traditional name was Te Raka-a-hineatua. According to tradition it was built by Taoka, a well known fighting chief of the late 17th to early 18th centuries, who also built fortresses at the Ashburton River
Ashburton, New Zealand
Ashburton is a town and district in the Canterbury Region on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the third-largest centre in Canterbury, after Christchurch and Timaru. The area around Ashburton is frequently referred to as Mid Canterbury, which is also the name of the...
and near Timaru
Timaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
. Shortly after it was built it was attacked by a party from Kaikoura
Kaikoura
Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1 180 km north of Christchurch.Kaikoura became the first local authority to reach the Green Globe tourism certification standard....
who were successfully repulsed by Taoka in the battle known as Te Hakopa. Taoka was also in battle with chiefs further south at Huriawa (modern Karitane
Karitane
The seaside settlement of Karitane is located within the limits of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand, 35 kilometres to the north of the city centre....
Peninsula), Mapoutahi (modern Goat Island Peninsula) and Pukekura (modern Taiaroa Head
Taiaroa Head
Taiaroa Head is a headland at the end of the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand, overlooking the mouth of the Otago Harbour. It lies within the city limits of Dunedin...
). Taoka's principal opponent was Te Wera. Jill Hamel has reported there were terraces, the best developed of any southern pā
Pa (Maori)
The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
, and rectangular houses with stone fireplaces. Radio carbon dating has confirmed it was occupied in the 18th century.
It used to be said Moeraki, like many other places on the east coast, was not a site of permanent occupation in pre-European times, but a major study, published in 1996, shows that is unlikely.
Moeraki was traversed during the Sealers' War
Sealers' War
The Sealers' War, also known as the "War of the Shirt", was a conflict in southern New Zealand started in 1810 by a Māori chief's theft of a red shirt, a knife and some other articles from the sealing vessel the Sydney Cove in Otago Harbour, and the excessive revenge of unidentified Europeans from...
, also known as the War of the Shirt, in 1814. In that year a party of eight men under Robert Brown including two other Europeans and five lascars, or Indian seamen, came up the east coast from Stewart Island/Rakiura
Stewart Island/Rakiura
Stewart Island/Rakiura is the third-largest island of New Zealand. It lies south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. Its permanent population is slightly over 400 people, most of whom live in the settlement of Oban.- History and naming :...
looking for a group of lascars who had absconded from the Matilda, Captain Samuel Fowler. According to the Creed manuscript, discovered in 2003, they camped for the night by their boat at 'the Bluff eight miles from Moeraki' to the north. However they were observed and attacked by Māori. Two of the sealers escaped and fled to Bobby's Head and Goodwood, south of Moeraki, taking two days to get there and where they were later killed and eaten. They will have passed Moeraki going north and fleeing south.
John Hughes, accompanied by W.I Haberfield and other men from the Weller brothers
Weller brothers
The Weller brothers, Englishmen of Sydney and Otago, New Zealand, were the founders of a whaling station on Otago Harbour and New Zealand’s most substantial merchant traders in the 1830s.-Immigration:...
' Otago whaling station
Otakou
The settlement of Otakou lies within the boundaries of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located 25 kilometres from the city centre at the eastern end of Otago Peninsula, close to the entrance of Otago Harbour.-Overview:...
, established a whaling station in Moeraki Bay, Onekakara, on Boxing Day, December 26, 1836. Since that time European occupation has been continuous. When Hughes and his men arrived there were only nine Māori living in the area, under Takatahara. In 1838 a large group arrived under Matiaha Tiramorehu and settled, in close proximity to the whalers. Many of the latter married Māori women. Haberfield later maintained alcohol was absent at Moeraki, in striking contrast to more southerly stations, especially the one at Otago.
After 1839 whaling dwindled and ceased by the late 1840s, although there was later a brief revival. Even so some of the whalers stayed. There were European visitors in the early 1840s. After the Otago Association's settlement based at Dunedin further south in 1848 a Moeraki sheep run was leased by 1852. A 'Hundred' was declared in 1860, opening the area to closer rural settlement. From 1854 Moeraki Bay served as a port for North Otago starting the period of rivalry with the one at Oamaru described above. It was over by 1879. Since then Moeraki has been a fishing village, farming centre and coastal resort.
Notable residents and visitors
In the late 1890s Frances HodgkinsFrances Hodgkins
Frances Mary Hodgkins was a painter chiefly of landscape and still life, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. She was born in New Zealand, but spent most of her working life in Britain...
(1869-1947) who became New Zealand's best regarded expatriate artist, regularly visited Moeraki to paint local Maori. A number of those works are now in the collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Dunedin Public Art Gallery
The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, municipal chambers, and other facilities such as the Regent Theatre.-History:The gallery was founded by...
, Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
.
Keri Hulme
Keri Hulme
Keri Hulme is a New Zealand writer, best known for The Bone People, her only novel.-Early life:Hulme was born in Christchurch, in New Zealand's South Island. The daughter of a carpenter and a credit manager, she was the eldest of six children. Her parents were of English, Scottish, and Māori ...
lived in Moeraki in the 1980s while she wrote her Booker-prize-winning novel 'The Bone People'.
Fleur Sullivan, the founder of the well-known Oliver's restaurant in Clyde, Central Otago, moved to Moeraki in the late 1990s and set up her distinctive waterside restaurant 'Fleur's Place'.