Kupe & his Voyage to New Zealand
Māori legend tells the story of Kupe, a brave chief from a land called Hawaiki.
In Hawaiki the fishing had become difficult because of a giant wheke (octopus) named Te Wheke-a-Muturangi. This was the pet of an evil tohunga (priest) called Muturangi and the enemy of Kupe. So Kupe set out to kill the giant wheke and in his waka (canoe) named Matahorua he set sail and chased it across the Pacific Ocean till he came to a mysterious land covered in white cloud that he named Aotearoa.
In the space between the two islands known as Raukawa (Cook Strait) he finally caught up with Te Wheke-a-Muturangi and after a great battle Kupe finally managed to destroy the giant wheke once and for all.
Kupe then journeyed around Aotearoa discovering its unique bird life like the kiwi and the golden flowers of the kowhai tree. After some time, and many great adventures, he finally returned to Hawaiki taking with him a block of pounamu (greenstone) that he had found on one of his adventures to Te Wai Pounamu (The South Island).
Kupe was never to return again to the mysterious islands but with his stories and proof of a distant land he encouraged others to find the place he named Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud that was to become known to the rest of the world as New Zealand.