Maori History

Paeroa (a low hill) featured prominently in the early Maori settlement of Hauraki, with the large Raupo Pa, on the junction of the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers, 3km west of the town, being inhabited from around 1300. To the west of the pa site there was the 32,400ha Kopuatahi swamp land which was rich in food resources.

Today, while many hectares around the periphery have been developed into very productive farm land, there are some 8500ha set aside as an ecological reserve. It also the watershed between the two catchments of the Waihou and Piako river systems in the Thames Valley Paeroa was on the main route from Hauraki and points north to the Bay of Plenty. Travellers went by canoes using the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers to reach Paeroa. From here they tramped through the Karangahake Gorge, across the Waihi Plains to Athenree, at the northern end of the Tauranga Harbour, and continued on their journey by canoe

Stories from each Iwi or Hapu