Great Beauty of Lake Waikare-iti

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 15, 3 November 1950, Page 5

Great Beauty of Lake Waikare-iti

From “Old Timer” Waoroa North-east of Lake Waikaremoana, and about 500 feet higher lies a sheet of beautiful, almost inconceivably blue water, called Lake Waikare-iti. Low hills clad in native bush sweep right to the water’s edge. I was one of those who made the first track through the bush to this delightful spot, and perhaps one of the first white men to see it. That was in the 1890’s, when we were employed by the Government to form a piece of road near Waikaremoana, about seven miles from its outlet. One day, four of us were removed from this work to cut a 6ft track through the bush to the tiny lake, four miles away. The bush was magnificent—giant ratas bearded with moss, tall, straight rimu three to four feet through, and graceful tree-ferns with their spreading fronds. Overhead, twined among the branches, were masses of clematis, and wonderful orchids, all in full bloom. Waikare-iti is about four square miles in area, and is studded with seven small islets. It is the home of numerous wild duck and shags, and also a bird like a large diver, which the Maoris call a kau. Major Goring, who in 1877 was in charge of the Armed Constabulary at Onepoto, was the first white man to see Lake Waikare-iti. Hearing rumours of its existence, he bribed an old Maori to show him the way. A party crossed Waikaremoana in canoes, in late 1877, and were led through the dense bush by the Maori guide. He said none of his generation had visited the lake, and refused to venture • near it himself because he considered it tapu.