Rekerekeokautere thence to Mangakaiwhiria thence turning towards the sea to te Umuokorongaehe thence to Te Ranga thence to Pukemanuka thence to Te Puna thence along the sea shore to Ngakuri a whare the commencing boundary.109
The plans accompanying the purchase deeds show Nga Kuri a Wharei as being sharply north of Mt Te Aroha and the Waiau Estuary (see Figures 11, 12, 13). Today, this would be within the Waihi Beach township at the northern end of the sand dune beach.
However, it would appear that when the Katikati block was surveyed the named location of Nga Kuri a Wharei was changed. A map of the Katikati Te Puna purchase compiled by Evelyn Stokes (see Figure 14) clearly shows the difference. The ‘original’ confiscation line was as per the deed maps, but the ‘Confiscation line and purchase boundary adjusted on survey’ runs more directly from Mt Te Aroha to the coast, and places Nga Kuri a Wharei about half way down the coast between Waihi Beach and Bowentown, just to the north of the Waiau estuary.
Another map prepared by Stokes, places Nga Kuri a Wharei itself to the north of the confiscation line (see Figure 15). On this map, Stokes has placed Nga Kuri a Wharei at the mouth of the Waiorooro Stream. The Waiorooro Stream is shown as midway between Waihi Beach township and the confiscation line. A drive up the coast from Bowentown to Waihi Beach in October 1996 failed to find any stream which was marked with that name. Today most of the area is either coastal reserve or residential housing.
3.3 SUMMARY
• The importance of Nga Kuri a Wharei to Maori is recorded in the saying ‘Mai Tikirau ki Nga Kuri a Wharei’. This marks the boundary of Mataatua territory.
• As a traditional site, the most likely location seems to be at the mouth of the Waiorooro Stream. Unfortunately, today at Waihi Beach, no stream is marked by this name.
• Nga Kuri a Wharei has always been the name of the northern boundary of the district confiscated under the New Zealand Settlements Act. ‘Nga Kuri a Wharei’ was a reference point in the Order in Council, the Tauranga District Lands Acts of 1867 and 1868, and the boundary descriptions of the purchase deeds for the Katikati Te Puna blocks. Sketch maps accompanying the deeds place Nga Kuri a Wharei at the northern end of Waihi Beach.
• However, when those blocks were surveyed, the northern boundary of the confiscated district seems to have been shifted south of Nga Kuri a Wharei itself to just north of the Waiau Estuary.
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