When love can move a mountain - the Maori legend behind Mt Taranaki
'Gliding Peak' is the literal translation of the Maori word Taranaki – which fits with the Maori legend of how Mt Taranaki came to where he now resides.
According to Maori legend, Mt Taranaki once lived with the other mountains of the central North Island – Mt Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe. Unfortunately, Taranaki fell in love with a pretty hill called Pihanga – who happened to be the wife of Tongariro.
After a fiery battle with Tongariro which he lost, the tall and handsome Taranaki, like many a young man, headed west. His falling tears at being banished are said to have created the Wanganui River as he gouged a path to the western coast of the North Island.
Here he stopped, and his falling tears as he looks back at Tongariro and his lost love Pihanga, are said to create the myriad of streams and rivers that flow from his near symmetrical slopes.
Further information:
Bruce Gatward-Cook
Destination Taranaki
Phone: +64 9 757 9909
Mobile: +64 25 409 239
Email: bruceg@taranakinz.org
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