To complete our term topic on Landforms - the children have read the story "Battle of the Mountains". This story tells:
The mountains in the central North Island once fought a great battle for the hand of Pīhanga, a mountain to the south of Tūrangi. Tribes have different versions of the story; the following is drawn from Ngāti Tūwharetoa tradition.
The story goes that in the days when the earth was young there were four mountain warriors: Tongariro, Taranaki (Mt Egmont), Tauhara and Pūtauaki (Mt Edgecumbe). There was also the beautiful maiden mountain, Pīhanga. The warrior mountains fought for her affections, and after a long battle Tongariro emerged the winner.
The defeated mountains decided that they should leave Tongariro’s domain. They were to travel as far as they could before dawn, when the rising sun would fix them to the spot. Pūtauaki headed east and by daybreak reached his present position at Kawerau. Tauhara travelled slowly, all the time looking back longingly at Pīhanga; he only reached the other end of the lake. Taranaki went west and still looks back, hoping for the day when he might return to avenge his defeat.
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