Ngātoro-i-rangi Carving at Mine Bay

Created by master carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell, this Māori rock carving rises from the surface of Lake Taupō’s Mine Bay. It is surrounded by smaller sculptures along the water’s edge. Depicting the legendary Māori navigator Ngātoro-i-rangi, this impressive work of art can only be accessed by boat.

Brightwell completed a 10-year training period with Māori elders in the late 1970s. Afterward, he came to his grandmother’s land at Lake Taupō to mark the occasion with a significant carving. From 1976 to 1980, Brightwell worked with a team to create this 46-foot sculpture of Ngātoro-i-rangi.

In the Māori tradition, Ngātoro-i-rangi was a tohunga, or priest, and a navigator of legendary renown. Over a thousand years ago, he guided the Tūwharetoa and Te Arawa tribes to the Taupō area and claimed the land and the lake.

Most excursions to visit the carvings start in the city of Taupō, with kayaking groups often entering the water at Jerusalem Bay down the shoreline. Kayaking trips will feel like ocean kayaking and take about three hours round trip, depending on the wind.