Reference: Ngā Kete Kōrero o Ngāi Te Rangi Link to Ngāi Te Rangi site 

In the Waokū, also known as Te Hautere, the untouched forest of Tauranga Moana, there was once a hill without a name who was a pononga, a servant to the chiefly mountain called Ōtānewainuku. Nearby there is a beautiful hill named Pūwhenua, adorned in many different colours and shades of the children of Tāne Mahuta, the God of the forest. The nameless one desired the heart of Pūwhenua, but alas her heart had already been won by Ōtānewainuku.

So, in deep despair, he decided to drown himself in the Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean. He called upon his friends the patupaiarehe, the fairy people who dwell in the dark recesses of the forest. The patupaiarehe are the people of the night that possess magical powers. The nameless one knew that with their help, he could fulfill his wish. When night fell, the patupaiarehe encircled the nameless one with woven muka flax ropes.

As the patupaiarehe began to heave and pull, they chanted this karakia, the earth shuddered and loosened, the nameless one was freed from his standing place and finally they could move him. The patupaiarehe hauled the nameless one towards the sea carving a valley as they went. As he slowly journeyed towards the ocean the nameless one panted and sobbed saying “ Ka haere, ka mapu”, meaning “I go and cry”. His tears became the Waimapu river which continues to flow today.

Crying and sobbing he continued his journey to the sea. As they approached the ocean he turned for one last look at Pūwhenua, however the patupaiarehe were so engaged in their task that they had lost track of time. As they approached the edge of the sea, the first rays of the sun touched the tip of the mountain as it began its slow transit over the horizon. As the dawn rays of the sun lightened up the sky, the patupaiarehe ran away returning to the safety of their darkened forest.

They left the nameless one fixed in place where he now stands. They named him Mauao ‘caught by the dawn’

Ko Mauao te maunga tapu kei te tomokanga ki te whanga o Tauranga - Te Awanui, nō reira, ko mātou nga iwi o Tauranga arā ko Ngāi Te Rangi rātou ko Ngāti Ranginui, ko Ngāti Pūkenga. E maumahara ana ki a ia, mai i ō mātou pūrākau, pepeha, waiata, haka, whakairo me wērā atu mea.