| Lake Mahinapua | |
|---|---|
| Lake Māhinapua, Tāwiri a Te Makō | |
 Lake Mahinapua | |
 | |
  Lake Mahinapua | |
| Location | West Coast,South Island, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 42°48′S170°55′E / 42.800°S 170.917°E /-42.800; 170.917 |
| Primary inflows | Frosty Creek, Mirror Creek |
| Primary outflows | Mahināpua Creek |
| Basin countries | New Zealand |
| Max. length | 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) |
| Max. width | 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) |
| Surface area | 3 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) |
| Surface elevation | 4 metres (13 ft) |
Lake Mahinapua is a shallow lake on theWest Coast of New Zealand'sSouth Island. Once a lagoon at the mouth of theHokitika River, it became a lake when the river shifted its course. Lake Māhinapua was the site of a significant battle betweenNgāi Tahu and Ngāti WairangiMāori, and is regarded by them as a sacred site where swimming and fishing are prohibited. In European times it was part of an inland waterway that carried timber and settlers betweenHokitika andRoss until the building of the railway. Today, it is protected as a scenic reserve for boating, camping, and hiking.
The name comes from theMāoriMāhina, a proper name, andpua, flower: Māhina's flower.[1] There is not yet an agreed official spelling of the name in New Zealand English and it is commonly written without the macron, or with a macron on the second "a" (Mahināpua).[2] Tūwharewhare / Mahināpua Creek's official name, confusingly, is currently spelled with a macron over the second "a".[3]
The lake is besideState Highway 6 at the small town ofRuatapu, between Hokitika andRoss. The road to the lake turns off the highway 8 kilometres (5 mi) south ofHokitika and passes through a tunnel of native forest to the lake shore.[4] The Mahinapua Walkway (the Mananui Tramline Track) can be reached from the western side of the lake 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of Hokitika or from its eastern terminus 14 kilometres (9 mi) south on Woodstock-Rimu Road; the walkway reaches Lake Mahinapua at Picnic Bay.[5]
During the retreat of glaciers at the end of theLast Glacial Period 12,000 years ago, a series ofglacial moraines was deposited along what is now the eastern (landward) side of the lake. What we now call the Hokitika River flowed to the sea between those moraines, where Lake Mahinapua is now. As the sea gradually rose and encroached on the land, it pushed a line ofdunes before it, which created a shallow coastallagoon roughly 500 metres (1,600 ft) from theTasman Sea coast. The Hokitika River then changed course, shifting to its current mouth 8 km north and leaving behind a lake now fed by a series of small creeks.[6]
The forest around Lake Mahinapua ranges fromrimu-kāmahi on the terraces and moraines left by the retreating glacier, to coastal dune forest that starts on ancient dunes (around the Jum Michel walk), through to low forest on more recent dunes (as seen at Mananui Bush). In the northern and southern wetlands bordering the lake growskahikatea swamp forest andflax. Flax grows profusely along Mahināpua Creek, where it was cultivated forcommercial harvest after the forest was cleared.[6] This is one of the few areas on this art of the West Coast that preserves an almost continuous forest from theSouthern Alps to the Tasman Sea. Bothsouthern rātā andnorthern rātā are present at Lake Mahinapua; it is the southern limit for the latter species.[6]
The lake is home to waterbirds such asblack swans andmallard ducks.Royal spoonbills,grey ducks, andfernbirds can occasionally be seen;white herons (kōtuku) can be found seasonally around the shore or more commonly in the streams entering or leaving the lake.[6] Thesouthern crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus australis) and sometimes bitterns are rarely seen here.[4][5] The surrounding bush containsbellbirds,tūī,kererū, andparakeets,[5] as well as bothlong-tailed andshining cuckoos andbrown creepers.[6]
There are still small populations ofshortfin eels andīnanga in Mahinapua, which coexist with introducedperch,tench, andbrown bullhead catfish.[6] Luckilyrudd have not colonised the lake, but it contains invasive white waterlily (Nymphaea alba) and Cape pondweed (Aponogeton distachyos).[7]
Lake Mahinapua was important toMāori of the Pātea and Ngāti Wairangi tribes as a mahinga kai (food gathering place) and a source of kuta or bamboo spike sedge (Eleocharis sphacelata), important for weaving.[6] Later, with the introduction ofpounamu stone to tribes outside the area, raiding parties and battles became a regular occurrence.[7] Lake Mahinapua was the site of a significant battle betweenNgāi Tahu and Ngāti Wairangi in the late 17th century in which Ngāi Tahu mokihi (rafts) were overturned and many drowned. The piled-up bodies of chiefs on the lake's foreshore gave the battle its name:Tāwiri a Te Makō (heap of sharks). That name is also used for the lake in general.[7] The site of the battle is regarded as a wāhitapu (sacred place) and local Ngāi Tahu will not harvest food from the lake or swim in it.[7] Control of the lakebed was vested in Poutini Ngāi Tahu as part of theNgāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998.[7]
When the tide is high, it is possible to travel by small boat from the lake down Mahināpua Creek to Hokitika, a fact of great importance toPākehā settlement before the building of a road. From 1865 boats were used to carry people and freight from Hokitika up the creek, crossing the lake and unloading at a portage landing besideRuatapu, and continuing down a lagoon to Ross. In 1867 two smallpaddle steamers were built in Hokitika for this purpose, using equipment salved from shipwrecks. The remains of a later paddle steamer are on display at Shanghai Bay.[6] From the 1880s to the 1960s timber (largelykahikatea) was milled in the coastal forest and after the timber was clearedflax was harvested along Māhinapua Creek.[6] Both were transported back to Hokitika by barges or paddleboats until the opening of theRoss Branch railway.[4] The railway opened to Ruatapu on 9 November 1906, was extended to Ross on 1 April 1909; it closed on 24 November 1980, but the historicMahinapua Creek Railway Bridge has been preserved. Mining and gold dredging also occurred in the area.[7] At the census of 1901, the population of Lake Mahinapua was eleven.[8]
In 1893 nearly 100 hectares along the creek and lakeshore were gazetted as a reserve overseen by the Westland Acclimatisation Society.[7] In 1907, the Lake Mahinapua Scenic Reserve was established to protect the land around the lake, and there are short walking tracks run through the bush – the Jum Michel Walk and Swimmers Beach Walk – as well as a 2 to 2½ hour walk that follows the route of a logging tramline to site of the Mananui Sawmill.[5] In December 2012 theWest Coast Treetop Walk opened on the edge of the Scenic Reserve, off Woodstock-Rimu Road.[6] Shanghai Bay on the southwestern shore was made a recreation reserve in 1974. A campground and theLake Mahinapua Aquatic Club is based there, and sailing, kayaking and kayaking is popular – it is possible to kayak 9 km through forest and swampland to Hokitika, or up Mirror Creek at the opposite end of the lake. Despite the lake's wāhi tapu status, swimming, fishing and duck shooting is common.[7]
