Maungakiekie, or One Tree Hill, is one of Auckland's most iconic mountains. Maungakiekie means 'mountain where kiekie grows abundantly. ' Kiekie is a native vine that grows in forests, so the mountain was probably originally covered in trees. Like many hills in Auckland, Maungakiekie, is a volcanic one.

The crater of Maungawhau (Mt Eden) seen here was called Te Ipu-a-Mataaho (the bowl of Mataaho) because this is where Mataaho lived. It is also said that the other volcanic cones of Auckland were formed when Mataaho’s wife left him and took his clothes, so the goddess Mahuika sent fires to warm him. 

Maungarei means 'the watchful mountain' and the mountain is an impressive archaeological site with its flanks formerly covered by terraced house sites and food-storage pits. The crest of the craters have extensive Māori earthworks. 

Motu = island, tapu = sacred. 

According to tradition, Motutapu was named after a place in the Polynesian homeland of the New Zealand Maori. The island is said to have been settled by the Maori ancestor Taikehu, who arrived on the Tainui canoe. It later became known by his descendants as Te Motu tapu a Taikehu, or `the sacred island of Taikehu'. Motutapu remains a place of special significance to the Tainui tribal confederation, and in particular to Ngai Tai.

Motu = Island, and many of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf start with this in their name. 

Motuihe (Te Motu-I-Henga) = island of Ihenga (a Maori chief).

Motuihe Island/Te Motu-a-Ihenga has had a varied history, which includes being extensively settled by Maori, farmed by Europeans for over a century, the site of Auckland's quarantine station for 50 years, and then a prisoner of war camp and a naval training base.

The island is a taonga (treasure) with many special places. National reserves like Motuihe Island Recreation Reserve protect natural, historic and cultural heritage for all New Zealanders, and help safeguard the biodiversity of the planet.

Waiheke, in the Maori language, means cascading or ebbing water. The original Maori name for Waiheke was Te Motu-arai-roa, “the long sheltering island” but at the time the first European visitors arrived it was known as Motu-Wai-Heke, “island of trickling waters”.

Tekapo is a place in the south island. It is a special area as it has lots of light restictions which makes it an amazing place for star gazing. In 2022 the first offical Matariki Ceremony was held in Tekapo. 

The name Tekapo, a misspelling of Takapō, derived from the te reo Māori words taka (sleeping mat) and po (night). Takapō means "To leave in haste at night".

Hauraki = ‘hau’ means ‘north’ and ‘raki’ means wind. This possibly refers to the fact that the Hauraki Gulf is surrounded by mainland to the East, South and West and largely exposed to the North.

The Hauraki Gulf is an important body of water for people who live in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Rawhitiroa as a word translates to longshining sun. As a placename, it has a ven larger history. There are many places around New Zealand called Rawhitiroa, even a school in the south island! 

The original meaning of Aotearoa is not known.The word can be broken up as: ao ('cloud', 'dawn', 'daytime' or 'world'), tea ('white', 'clear' or 'bright') and roa ('long'). It can also be broken up as Aotea, the name of one of the migratory canoes that travelled to New Zealand, and roa ('long'). One literal translation is 'long white cloud', commonly lengthened to 'the land of the long white cloud'.

Muriwai, means "End of the Water". It refers to the Te Muriwai, a kainga located upstream of the beach along the Muriwai Stream/Okiritoto Stream, which over time became a name for the river valley, and eventually for the wider area.

Read more about it here!