Putauaki ( mi, Pūtauaki; also known in English as Mount Edgecumbe) is a
dacite
Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...
volcanic cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...
in the
Bay of Plenty Region of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. Located 50 km east of
Rotorua
Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...
and three kilometres east of
Kawerau
Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distri ...
, it is the easternmost vent of the Okataina volcanic centre, within the
Taupo Volcanic Zone. The mountain rises to 820 m above sea level, and is visible from the waters of the
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...
, 30 km to the north. Every year a King of the Mountain race is run on Putauaki as part of the international King of the Mountain series, and proceeds are donated to charity.
History
The last substantial volcanic eruption occurred around 300
BCE
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
, producing a cubic kilometre of lava.
Captain James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
named the mountain "Mount Edgecumbe" on 2 November 1769, possibly in honour of John Edgecombe, the sergeant of marines on his vessel, the
''Endeavour''.
The mountain's official name changed back to Putauaki in 1925.
The New Zealand government took part of the mountain from the
Ngāti Awa
Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...
people in the 1880s as part of a series of North Island
land confiscations, supposedly for the purposes of military settlement. In a 1999 report the
Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...
declared the confiscation illegal because there was no prospect of placing settlers on the mountain.
Legendary source of name
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
legend tells of a love affair that Pūtauaki had with
Whakaari/White Island
Whakaari / White Island (, mi, Te Puia Whakaari, lit. "the dramatic volcano"), also known as White Island or Whakaari, is an active andesite stratovolcano situated from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plent ...
.
Another version of the legend is that Pūtauaki was lonely after losing a fight for Pīhanga (another mountain) so when he met Tarawera he decided to start a relationship with her. After raising a son and years of a troubled marriage, Pūtauaki cast his eye out towards the sea, where the very beautiful Whakaari was. The two would call out to each other at night while Tarawera slept. One night Pūtauaki could not contain his love any longer and decided to travel out to be with Whakaari. It is said that a mountain can only move once in their life and only at night so Pūtauaki had to travel across the land fast. Little did he know, his son had awoken and was following him. He heard the little whimper from his son and turned around. He tried to tell his son to stay with Tarawera but the little mountain would not leave his father. Then the sun rose and froze the two mountains where they were. When Tarawera awoke she saw that her husband had left and she started to weep, thus creating the
Tarawera Falls and
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
. Until this day Tarawera still cries and Whakaari still calls out for her lover, who is frozen to the spot near
Kawerau
Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distri ...
.
Transmitter
Putauaki is home to a major FM radio transmitter for the eastern Bay of Plenty. Prior to digital television transition in December 2013, the transmitter was also the main analogue television transmitter for the area.
Gallery
File:Putauaki02.jpg, View of the mountain from the north
File:Putauaki Tarawera.jpg, Putauaki and the Tarawera River
The Tarawera River is in the Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand.
It flows from Lake Tarawera, northeastwards across the northern flanks of the active volcano Mount Tarawera, and past the town of Kawerau before turning north, ...
File:Borefield at Kawerau NZ.jpg, Putauaki overlooks a geothermal bore field near Kawerau
Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distri ...
A Feast at Mata-ta, on the East Coast - New Zealanders Illustrated, 1847.jpg, Putauaki seen in an 1847 illustration depicting a Māori feast at Matata
See also
*
List of volcanoes in New Zealand
This is a partial list of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in New Zealand.
Kermadec Arc and Havre Trough
North Island
Taupō Volcanic Zone
Elsewhere
Mangakino Culdera
South Island
Other
Ross Dependency
New Zealand a ...
References
External links
Walking up Mount Edgecumbe - at peakbagging.co.nz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Putauaki
Whakatane District
Volcanoes of the Bay of Plenty Region
Okataina Volcanic Centre
Volcanic cones
VEI-5 volcanoes
Whakatane Graben
Taupō Volcanic Zone