27/08/2025. Purakaunui and environs. Grade 3. Hikers. Leaders: Katrina McKenzie and Jill Thomas
After meeting the town members at Port Chalmers, 27 hikers drove in to Long Beach for morning tea and a toilet stop.
We then drove back up the hill and down to Purakaunui. The first part of our hike was out to the point along a well formed but sometimes narrow track .
As it was low tide we clambered over a few rocks and were then able to walk part way on the beautiful white sandy beach.
Some of the group were not familiar with the area and enjoyed the stunning coastal views, including the Mapoutahi pa site.
We then headed back to the road, and wound our way up the hill past an interesting variety of cribs and permanent homes to Mopanui Road.
We walked down to the domain where we enjoyed lunch with a view of the inlet.
After lunch we walked around the track to the causeway, with a timely stop to view a northbound train. We retraced out steps to the domain, and followed the track past some interesting boathouses and the historic cottage back to the cars.
We saw and heard a range of birds including kereru (wood pigeon), Kōtare (kingfisher), tui and parakeets.
Everyone enjoyed the 9km walk around this idyllic coastal settlement on a stunning winter day.
A short Purakaunui timeline taken from Te Pari Rehu, The Misty Cliffs by Stan Durry and Dawn Paterson
Archaeologists and oral traditions suggest that Waitahi settled this area with the first arrival dates about 850-950AD. Then in the 1500’s Ngati Mamoe crossed Cook Straight to settle in the South Island followed by Ngai Tahu in the 1600’s.
Following the establishment of Sydney in 1788 a number of explorers made trips to NZ and Captain Daniel Cooper became the first European discoverer of Otago Harbour. This provided Maori with sporadic encounters with Pakeha but it wasn’t until the whalers arrived in the 1790’s that encounters increased.
A whaling station was established in the sand dunes back from the beach in 1836 and operated successfully until the end of the 1838 season when declining whale numbers had the station shifted north to Timaru.
Early settlers began clearing the land and a census in 1868 showed 23 families farming around the district. Isolation was a big problem as the road to Port Chalmers from Waitati was not established until the mid 1870’s. Prior to this communication was by sea.
The township was surveyed in 1872 and sections began selling at the cost of 8-10 pounds. The railway opened on 12 th December 1877. This accelerated this establishment of Purakaunui Township.
Katrina McKenzie and Jill Thomas
Link to background information and earlier tramps and hikes in the same area.