The eruption of Mount Tarawera

The area's dormant volcano Mt Tarawera is the subject of much history. Its eruption in 1886, and the devastation it caused, can be linked to much of the history told by the old people.

The mountain and the adjacent lake of the same name are places of mystery that trace back to the arrival of the Arawa canoe.

Tamahoi was a man-eating ogre who lived on the mountain. As the thermal region became more occupied he would often snatch travellers and devour them. When news of these ambushes reached Ngatoroirangi, a tohunga (sacred man possessing powerful spiritual gifts), he was angered and resolved to make a special expedition to Tarawera to deal with the cannibal ogre.

Well travelled, Ngatoroirangi had conquered the great heights of Mt Tongariro far to the south and summoned the fire that created thermal activity in the Rotorua region. He climbed Mt Tarawera, stamped his foot until a huge chasm was formed. Using his powers to summons Tamahoi to the summit, Ngatoroirangi then threw him into the chasm and covered him over with the solid rock of the mountain. Tamahoi lay asleep inside the mountain for many centuries until he was summoned by the prayers of another tohunga, Tuhoto Ariki.

Said to be at least 105-years-old, Tuhoto was saddened by the deteriorating standards of his people at Te Wairoa village. He felt they were being influenced more and more by the pleasure-loving European. As the days passed, Tuhoto withdrew further into himself and away from the communal life of the pa (village). He prayed to the gods for an answer to the declining standards and was answered when Tamahoi, the long buried demon, burst through his rock bonds and scattered molten rock, boiling mud and ash over Te Wairoa and the surrounding Maori villages.

More than 100 Maori were killed along with a small number of European that night in June 10, 1886.

Search parties began the task of uncovering survivors buried in the volcanic eruption. Many thought Tuhoto would have paid for his curse with his life yet when rescuers uncovered his house five days later Tuhoto was still alive. Maori believe Tamahoi protected the old tohunga and see it as proof Tuhoto was responsible. Tuhoto was taken into Rotorua to be cared for by Europeans, who insisted on cutting the old man's hair. It said that with each cut more of his life ebbed away until his frail old body succumbed and the tohunga of Te Wairoa village died.

The phantom Maori waka (canoe) of Lake Tarawera
An omen that disaster was imminent in the Tarawera area in 1886, was the sighting of the phantom war canoe (waka taua) by Maori and European. It was believed to be a sign of death to all who saw it. Its last appearance was only days prior to the eruption of Mt Tarawera. The apparition was widely discussed and Maori asked their tohunga, Tuhoto Ariki, what it foretold. He replied it was an omen that the entire region would be overwhelmed.

Disaster - the eruption of Mt Tarawera
The night of June 9, 1886, was cold and clear. In the early hours of the morning of June 10 1886, the Tarawera range was erupting. By 2.30am its three peaks were in eruption, columns reaching thousands of metres into the sky.

Worse was to come. Basalt magma mixed with the hydro-thermal system under Lake Rotomahana and, at 3.20am, the bed of Lake Rotomahana blew out, taking with it the famed Pink and White Terraces. Nearby villages of Te Ariki and Moura were buried under a scalding pyroclastic flow.

The settlement of Te Wairoa was almost completely destroyed by falling rocks and mud. At the schoolhouse Charles Haszard, his family and guests were awoken around 1am. They gazed in awe across the lake at a crimson glow above Tarawera.

As they watched, a dense black cloud rose above the glow, lit by a tremendous display of lightning.

A guest, William Bird, recalled the scene vividly: “Lake Tarawera was a copper mirror, reflecting the mountain from base to summit in a lurid glare. Dominating all, hung the great cloud-curtain, gloomy and dark above, saffron and orange on its under-surface. From the cloud, great balls of flaming rock dropped from time to time, descending with a splash into the waters of the lake.”

The awe of the watchers quickly turned to fear. A hail of stones began to rain down, and a strong wind accompanied by a deafening roar of smashed windows.

The death toll will never be known exactly but some 150 people are believed to have died that night. Maori guide Sophia later estimated that 62 people had survived the night with her in her whare. Five members of schoolmaster Charles Haszard's family perished and a young English guest named Edwin Bainbridge died under the falling verandah of the Rotomahana Hotel.

He wrote in his diary: "This is the most awful moment of my life. I cannot tell when I may be called upon to meet my God. I am thankful that I find His strength sufficient for me. We are under heavy falls of Volcanoe."


The 1886 Tarawera eruption - image courtesy of the National Archives.

Tarawera today
The eruption of Mt Tarawera happened more than 120 years ago. Rotorua is very close to the place where great tectonic plates meet; the land has been moving here for thousands of years and continues to do so.

Deep in the Tarawera mountain range the pressure builds, the mountain merely sleeps. Scientists measure volcanic activity, keeping an eye on the restless earth for signs of the next eruption.

Visitors from all over the world still visit the mountain, transported to its awesome summit by descendants of the people who escorted early visitors to the terraces.

Trace this fascinating story by experiencing the remnants of the violent eruption of Mt Tarawera at the Rotorua Museum, exploring the excavated site of Te Wairoa Village known today as The Buried Village and meet the descendants of the survivors in their living thermal village at Te Whakarewarewa.


A partial view of the crater rift along the summit of Mt. Tarawera today.

This information has been shared and sourced from the people of Te Arawa and should be respected as their cultural and intellectual property. This information was provided with the kind permission of Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing.

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