LYALL BAY TO SEATOUN

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 100, 22 January 1919, Page 4

LYALL BAY TO SEATOUN

AN INTERESTING WALK

(By H.M.C.)

The strip of rugged coast lying between Lyall Bay and Seatoun has become a favourite-walk at week-ends, 'and. it is now quite the rule to meet numbers.of peoplo making tho trip, whereas but a fow years ago only an occasional ono would be met on the way. Doubtless the tram extension has increased','tho popularity of the walk, but'the view of the harbour entrance and the wide sea outlook have been factors in attracting visitors. Thcro arc many' interesting places along tho route, but they are known only to the few; therefore, it may not bo amiss to make known 'to others some of those places. ' Leave a Miramar or.a Seatoun car at tlio boundary, and so south towards Lyall Bay.'. The isthmus lying between Lyall and Eyans Bays was under water some fivo hundred years ago Maori tradition tells us,. and' the Miramar Peninsula , (Motu-kai-rangi) was an island, senarated by the Channel of .Taia (To-A*wa-a-Taia). A great earthquake named Haowhemia (land-swal- : lower) raised the sea-bottom, and sitting occurred until the channel became blocked. The numerous beds of shells exposed to view where tho sand has beon carted .away seem to show that "pipi" beds had once existed there, and the shellfish had died but. On. tho immediate left, through .thy fence at-the boundary, is a small knoll, around which.the Maoris had lived, for •on tho north-eastern side are o'.en stoves, sliellsj and stoneflakes. Some • years ago'the lower portion of a moa beak was found, also chips of obsidiin on the same spot.. Further to the east umu (oven) stones in- heaps were numerous, but now they, are scattered', and buried by cattle passing over them. Between: the knoll and the sea beach •• lies a stretch of drift ..sand now overgrown with grass and creepers. At this place, apparently the- old site, of a an adze wasfound, also parts I of a. human skeleton, moa. leg. hones, seal bones, and the usual contents o£ middens. A fine /specimen.': •of umu(oven) is right in tho path. It is about seven feet in diameter and about, three feet' in depth. . . •'....-- ''... To the left of the beach,.between, tho sandhills and: the golf jinks,'.numerous traces of Maori occupation were .once, exposed, hut only here and there can outcrops of shells.bo seen.'.Grass, has covered most of the heaps;-> and it is difficult to pick.out.this remains of-the kainga. Here may be- seen the; b'eginj'hing of the long': stretch of raised: beaches, which extend, right around- to [Breaker Bay. They"are'.prbbaoly"'due |tb the work of "Haowhemia," ::that closed the Channel of Taia. - In-tho gully to the oast of..the week-end cottages at the foot of the hill moa' bones have been found, and bo recently as January 1 of this' year "a larKe'tibia of a moa was picked up from the drift sand. The same locality has yielded articles of Maori manufacture, and tho heavy winds seem to be continually uncovering bones,-stones, and: weapons. From the turn of the road at the corner a good view along the coast can be obtained, and the long-lines of reefs that fringe the coast as'far as Sinclair Head, stand out like skeletons of. ridges, that once dipped into the sea. Across Cook Strait (Rnukawa)"the'Kaikbura.mountains,- with their,.towering, snow-cqvered 'peaks glistening in the sun,:present a solid barrier that reaches to the'clouds.

: After rounding the-first-corner tho first definite- signs ■of raised beaches make their appearance, 'and though the lines have been: somewhat broken by removal of the gravel, still a very good idea of. the.effects, of upward movement 'of tho land can be obtained, .r.Tfro or three jdistinct pa'rallo): beaches can be seen in Eomo of the small bays, and as they extend from right up under tho hills it can bo seen that tho coastal elevation has been..going on for a very long time.-.-'. ' v> Around tho next-corner nestles .the fishing village under the steep hill that protects it from the north-westerly winds.- From this-place" a very extensive view of the coastisohtained, with Sinclair Head on the west and.the.sloping point of Turaki-'rae on the eiis't. The peculiar shape of Turaki-rae Head; is found in parts of the coast towards Terawhiti, and the tongue-like; appearance is supposed to -have been.'causcd by glacial action. Professor ■ James Park, F.G.S., refers thus 'to 'these points in "Some Evidences of tion on the Shores of Cook Strait and Golden Bay" (Transactions N.Z. Insti-' tutc, Vol. XLII):— "At the time of my earlier examination; T ;;was unable to find a satisfactory solution of theorigin, of this coastal.terrace,.but now I think that an ice-sheet or glacier flowing through the depression occupied by Cook Strait would be able to excavate the fringing platform wei.now. see," Eeference is mads to similar land shapes .across tho Straits, and• their.'.appear-; anco coincides to such'an extent with ' already known places where .glacial' ac-. tion has occurred that it is fairly safe to conclude that the tongue-shaped points have experienced a similar ac-' tion. '■'■'. ..■ - Directly in front of .'the fishing village stands the peninsula of Hua-te-taka, a name given by, the Maori because of the flocks of birds that nested there. Maori tradition tells that the. eggs were obtained in large quantities: henco the name. Away to the east Pencarrow Head stands out like a lion guarding'the entrance.- The. Maori name is Rae-ake-ake, "the place where the sea dashes up." ■■ In the early days of Wellington, the Maoris grew wheat in the Wainui Valley, and sent it around.tho coast to Wellington by canoes, where it was milled'/ ':.. The coast presents such a forbidding appearauce that only old sea rovers like the Maoris would venture out in such craft as they used. On the- cast of the fishing village stands ,a high, steep bluff, the summit of'which is the site of Kiuij-atitiiu Pa. Though long deserted and left to' decay,' parts of tho old pallisading could bo seen two or three years ago, and the depressions once occupied by huts and food stores may still be traced. Perched on the almost unsalable cliff and joined to the mainland, by a narrow "strip of land, it must nave presented a formidable task to any invader who attempted to take it. Below it to tho left lies | Tarakena Bay, almost enclosed seaward by rugged reefs. '.. Hero was the site of the old pilot station, and to all | appearances tho work of picking- up a I vessel on. a rough'day with a southeaster blowing.' must have boon somewhat hazardous. ', •■ !

Several small middens can be seen at Tarakena, but they have not yielded much to tho "fossicker," but a largo one in tho middle of the slioro close- to tho stream has been well turned over, and a number of interesting articles have bcou uncovered. Some of these were portions of a shell neckkco (niho-niho-ra-rore), stono gauge for carving, dint, and obsidian flakes, fish hooks, and moti bones. Several large, flat smoothing or sharpening stones were found besido tho stream, and upon theso could plainly be seen the depression made by guiding implements. A small midden to the left of tho bay' at the foot of tho hill yielded a fiho specimen of Hint knife about four inches by three-quarters wide and' a quarter thick.. It was. reported that a soap-stono figure* of Tinirau riding on his pet whalo tutu-nui, had boon found hero by a fisherman' some years* ago. To-tlio left of the'reef that lies"on the ,oast of Tarakina: Day huge'water-worn boulders lie scattered just at. low-, water mark. They' present a striking contrast to tho jagged rocks of the

reef alongside. How they caflj; there is- a matter for conjecture; tnffl , structure is quite, different from tM , rocks of the reef. i i' ~ " ' By turning to the left, and ..looking . iilong the coast to the north, the old beaches 'stand out prominently to ones ; view, and the well-rounded stones formlong piles ahove the rocks ana skirt- • ing the shore as far as the eye can see. Some vears'agb numbers oir Umta varying in size from an inch up to nvo and six inches in length were lound. • "scattered along the southern portion, of these raised beaches just above-high-water mark.' Since there, ai.e-.no flints in the district it is strange how tliev came to be found in such a place. It 'is possible that a canoe bringing them from around tho East Coast may have been upset, and the cargo lost and then washed' ashore. v ...■■'' .Several, heaps, of .burnt stones, sneis and bones along this' shore mark thC places where villages .had once existed,. and within the memory of some-of our. citizens there was a Bmall" village in i tho bay to the. south below the signalnal station.'' : ' Pae-whenua is> tho name on the map, but. that namo belongs, to the ridge upon which tho signal station stands. A grove'of karaka trees close up under the hill may havo borne fruit to supplement the food supply of the occupiers of the villages in.tho vicinity. Along the coast past Breaker Bay stands the site of tho ancient _pa of Oruaiti (Little Hole). It occupied the spot where Fort Dorset now stands, and served as an outpost to guard the en-, trance to Whanganui-a-tara. A tow years ago the hut sites could be seen, and' burnt stones and shells dug up from around the.old.nrc : pits. • The channel over, which Oruciti stands sentry was-known to the.Maoris as Te-Au-nui-a-Taine (Tho Great Current or Tane). , • j ' ' From Breaker Bay a road winds up the hillside and goes through the hill by the Pass of Brahda, from which' a fine view of the eastern part of the harbour can.be obtianed, with Ward and Somes Inlands on the right andKaraka and Worser Bays on the left. Directly in front lies Seatoun, with its memories of peace and war—of peace when the occupants of surrounding villages , cultivated their crops; of war when..tho invading parties' came..and drove oiit the occupants. of. Orouaiti and-fought with them'across the flat and.over the lulls to'.Miramar.' ;. The Maori name of the'seashore at Seatoun was- Kiri-Kiri-te-Tan'gi.: (The . Resound- , ing.Gravelly'Shore),- ...-. -■■■. ■ •..•■•■;'