Raine & Horne Kumeu - Hobsonville Blog

It is quite amazing that after many years of living in the area that a lot of people do not know the meanings of the local Maori names given to places. I must admit that I fell into that category for a few years myself and had to look one or two up (maybe three). For those of you that may or may not know, please find below a brief summary of five local names in no particular order and their meanings for your info.

MURIWAI: The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of “waters end” for Muriwai, I think that is quite self explanatory.                                      

WAIMAUKU: The name Waimauku describes the banks of the Kaipara River near the modern settlement and how the flooded only “ti mauku” (cabbage trees) would be visible, and of course “wai” is water.                                                                        

HUAPAI: The name Huapai was coined by property developers Lionel Hanlon and G.W.Green in the early 1910s after setting up on about 5,000 acres for their Northern Fruitlands Ltd company  - they created it from Maori language to mean “Good Fruit”.

KUMEU: The name Kumeu originally referred to the north-east of Taupaki village to the south of today’s existing Kumeu. The name came about during a Maori battle that a wahine toa (woman warrior) pulled her breast when calling her warriors to revenge an insult, giving rise to the  name “Kume-u” (Pull breast).                                

WHENUAPAI: The name Whenuapai was coined by resident Theophilus Wake, originally when he settled in the area in 1911 it was called Waimarie meaning “Calm waters”. However as the settlement grew and Wake applied for a post office, the post office required a different name due to another location already having this name so he named it Whenuapai meaning “good land”. 

There are of course many other respected Maori names for the whole area to explore and to find their meanings. Note that there were earlier Maori names used prior to some of the above by the local Maori, as the traditional Maori name for Huapai was “Turakiawatea” a name associated with an ancestor that travelled in the area around the 16th century. 

Hopefully the five place names given above are a simple taster for you to explore the rich history of both Maori and later European settlement and I am happy to be corrected if any of the above interpretations are incorrect as I used Wikipedia as my  cheat source. There are many great books and articles out there for you to gather lots more in-depth  and accurate knowledge from historians and authors that have used their expertise to share the history of the area with you.

Brendon Hodge 021 608 234

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