Pūrākau : MAUAO

Tērā ētahi maunga e whā, i tū ki waenga i ngā puke, i ngā kōawaawa i ngā paenga o te wao o Hautere. Arā a Pononga (he mōkai, hawini rānei) me tētahi maunga rangatira; he taumata i kākahutia hei tohu whenua ki ngā iwi o Tauranga Moana. Ki te uru-mā-tonga te āhua hangareka o tētahi maunga rerehua; he wahine i kākahutia ki ngā tini aruhe, kōkōmuka, rākau hoki ā Tāne. Ki te rāwhiti, tū ai tētahi maunga mokemoke tuawhā e whātaretare ana ki te ngahere, ki tua o Pononga. I kōingoingo tēnei maunga mokemoke kia kite atu ai i te maunga āhua reka, engari nā te aukatinga o tana titiro atu, ka tipu te pūhaehae, nāwai rā ka mōhiotia tēnei maunga, ko Harawene.

I mate kanehe a Pononga ki te maunga ataahua. Engari, kua riro kē tōna ngākau i te maunga āhua rangatira, nā i auraki atu te wai ki a ia kia matomato te tipu o ōna kākahu rākau rā. Nā, ka mōhiotia tēnei maunga rangatira ko Ōtānewainuku. Nā aua wai rere tonu i pūea mai te ingoa o te maunga ataahua rā: nā, ka mōhitotia ia ko Pūwhenua.

Kāore he putanga ki te maunga mōkai nei, kāore ōna mana ki te whakawai i a Pūwhenua hei wahine māna. Nā tōna pouri, rāwakiwaki hoki, i whakatau ia ki te whakatoromi i a ia anō ki roto i te Moananui-ā-Kiwa. Ka karanga ia ki ngā patupaiarehe, he iwi tipua i noho ki te wao o Hautere. He hoa rātou ki a ia, ā nā tā rātou tūmatarau i tāmakatia ai ētahi taura nui, hei tō atu i a Pononga mai i te tuawhenua ki te moana. I a rātou e kume ake ana i ngā taura, ka tākina tā rātou karakia:

Arise you who slumber
Prepare ourselves
Prove our manhood
Heave to the west
Heave to the south
Move heaven and earth
It awakens, It loosens, shudders
Haul toward the stormy east wind
That the sky may feel
The tang of salt spray
Of the turbulent thundering waves
Wi Wi wi
Wa Wa Wa A! ha! ha!
Cast your eyes heavenward
Toward Venus, the evening star,
To light the path
To the ocean of Tangaroa,
The god who lures many into his embrace,
Into eternal darkness.
Alas, the birds have awakened
Dawn has come.
E hika tū ake
Ki runga rā whitiki taua
Hei tama tū
Uea ki te uru
Kumea ki te tonga
Hiki nuku Hiki rangi I arā rā Ka ngaru e, ka ngaru e
Toia ki te hau marangai
Kia whakarongo taku kiri Te kikini a te rehutai
o ngā ngaru whatiwhati
e haruru mai nei
Wī, wī wī
Wā wā wā A! hā! hā! Horahia ō mata
ki a Meremere-tū-ahiahi Hei taki i te ara
ki a Tangaroa
He atua hāo i te tini ki te pō
E kokoia e ara e
Kōrihi te manu,
Takiri mai te ata

The patupaiarehe chanted this karakia as they hauled Pononga from his place among the hills at Waoku; they gouged out the valley where the river Waimapu now flows and they followed the channel of Tauranga Moana past Hairini, past Maungatapu and Matapihi, and past Te Papa. The patupaiarehe pulled Pononga right to the edge of the great ocean of Kiwa. But the breaking of dawn started to creep up on them; and as the sun rose, the first rays lit up the summit of Pononga and fixed him in that place. The patupaiarehe, who were folk of the night, fled away before the light of the sun and made haste back to the shady depths of the forests and ravines of Hautere.

The patupaiarehe gave a name to this maunga which marks the entrance to Tauranga Moana.
He was called Mauao which means caught (Mau) by the dawn (ao), or lit up by the first rays of sunrise.
In time, he assumed greater mana than his rival, the chiefly maunga of Hautere.
Upon the arrival of the waka Tākitimum, Mauao was also given another name, Maunganui, meaning the great mountain.

Mauao is still the symbol of the tribes of Tauranga Moana:
Ko Mauao te maunga,
Ko Tauranga te moana.