Tū te Rakiwhānoa

Milford Opportunities Hub – open and welcoming visitors

“… Tū te Rakiwhānoa looked at the high, unbroken rock faces that stretched from Tawhiti-tarere (Puyseguer Point) to Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) on the Western side. He realised the mammoth task that lay in front of him. Wielding his mighty adze (Te Hamo) he chopped into and shaped the great mountains of rock, creating fiords, islands and waterways. Starting in the south, he got better as he worked, creating places of increasing grandeur and beauty as he made his way north to Piopiotahi. Piopiotahi was his greatest work.”

Tū te Rakiwhānoa plays a significant role in the Ngāi Tahu creation story. This is the atua (god-like figure) who made this wild and raw land fit for humans.

Tū-te-Rakiwhānoa is waiting to greet you at the Milford Opportunities Project (MOP) Community Engagement Hub – the ‘face of the project’. He almost didn’t make it here though, being saved just minutes away from the skillsaw at Piopiotahi a few years ago and taken to Ōraka-Aparima Rūnanga’s Marae “Takutai o Te Tītī” at Oraka (Colac Bay) for safe-keeping. Once again though he stands defiant and proud in his temporary Te Anau home as he makes his way back towards the masterpiece that is Piopiotahi.

Initial public response to the Hub has been good.

Initial public response to the Hub has been good. A number of locals and visitors have popped in to say hello and offer ideas and suggestions. This is what the project needs as we listen to your thoughts on the conceptual Master Plan and feed that back into the project team. Already, people seem pleased to have a place where they can be actively involved in the project and a place that is staffed by locals too. We would love to have you drop in sometime.

We are in the old Westpac Bank building at the lake end of the Te Anau Town Centre.