Taupo Township's Name.

The original name of Taupo township, where the Waikato River leaves the lake, is Nukuhau, which has a legend of its own, as explained to me by Paora Rokino and another Kaumatua of Taupo. It means “Moving in the Wind,” and was first the name given to a certain totara tree trunk standing in the lake, near the shore, a remnant of an ancient forest. The broken top of the tree moved to and fro in a strong wind, hence the name, which came to be applied generally to the shore and the Waikato mouth.

Tapuwae-haruru, “The Resounding Footsteps,” a name heard in other parts of pumiceland, where the earth in places gives forth a hollow sound under a heavy tread, is the name of the old pa on the head opposite Taupo township. This was the fortified position of the chief Poihipi Tukairangi and his section of the Taupo tribe during the last Maori war; he was friendly to the Government. The name is applied also to the present Maori village just opposite the township, on the green shore slanting down to the river.