History of the Whanganui River

Several mountains once stood, like noble gods, high above the land in the centre of the North Island. Tongariro, the greatest of them all, lived beside Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu and Taranaki, while nearby stood the lovely maiden Pihanga. With her cloak of deep green bush folded closely around her shoulders, Pihanga was an object of great beauty. All the mountain gods loved her, but the one she chose was the venerable white-haired Tongariro.

What had been a long, peaceful existence for the mountain gods was disturbed when Taranaki could no longer keep his feelings in check, and dared to make advances to Pihanga. A mighty conflict between Tongariro and Taranaki ensued, which shocked the very foundations of the earth. The mountains belched forth their anger and darkness clouded the sky.

When peace finally came to the land Tongariro, considerably lowered in height, stood close by Pihanga's side while Taranaki, wild with grief and anger, tore himself from his roots with a mighty wrench and left his homeland. He plundered recklessly towards the setting sun, and upon reaching the ocean turned north, finally coming to rest in grand isolation, a mountain in his own domain.

Great was his path of sorrow, for as he fled, Taranaki had torn a long, deep wound through the earth. Soon from the side of Tongariro there sprang forth a stream of clear water which filled and healed the wound that Taranaki had made in the earth. Green forests, filled with the song birds, grew on the banks of this newly formed river, which we know today as the Whanganui.