Te Puna o Riuwaka: Riwaka Resurgence

I’m still in New Zealand and here for a bit longer by the look of it, so here’s a visit to another remarkable sacred spring – smaller than Pupu but almost as magical.

If you’re brave enough to venture over The Hill from Nelson to Takaka and Golden Bay you will find out that a) the Hill is a Kiwi joke – it’s enormous and exceptionally windy and b) you will probably have quite a long wait at some traffic lights warning you of forth coming repairs to the road, much of which disappeared after Cyclone Gita in 2018. Very close to the traffic lights a sign leads off to the Riwaka Resurgence. It’s worth the detour.

It’s a bumpy drive along a gravelled track but the scenery is beautiful, a mixture of farmland and native bush, part of the Kahurangi National Park. There is car park at the start of the walk which is clearly marked. The entrance is through an attractively carved entrance or waharoa which depicts two local tribes: Te Ᾱtiawa o Te Waka-a-Maui , on the right, and Ngāti Rārua on the left. The figure in the centre is thought to be Hui Te Rangiora, a Polynesian explorer who is believed to have rested here and used the waters to heal himself after an epic voyage that took him from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands to what is described as a beautiful white land, generally considered to be Antarctica. This was in 650AD.

The track is small, meandering and scenic following the Riwaka River to where it miraculously appears from under the hill, the resurgence itself.

It’s so green and lush, a wonderful combination of trees all jostling for space – rimu, manuka, huge palms and many I can’t identify. Some trees trail with lichen, evidence of the pure quality of the air. The river flows alongside, crystal clear and strewn with rocks,

The crystal pools are first sign that something special lies ahead – living up to their name but an astonishing limpid blue overhung with a variety of mossy and rainforest greens.

The water is said to be almost optically pure. It’s mesmerising.

Finally after a fifteen minute walk, depending on distractions, you arrive at the resurgence – a pool of extraordinary blue emerging from the hillside.

The Takaka Hills rise to 600m above sea level. Over millions of years, water, falling originally as rain, collects underground – the limestone hills acting as natural drainage system. Fresh water flows for four kilometres underground taking three days to travel through a network of cracks and caves, caused by the acidic effect of the rain on the limestone. It eventually emerges here and becomes the northern branch of the Riwaka River. It is an impressive and magical sight.

The resurgence is known as Te Puna o Riuwaka by local Māori, and is considered wāhi tapu, sacred. The information board explains:

For Maori, every river has its own mauri or life force. Rivers are the veins of Papatuanuku, Earth Mother, and the water in them is her lifeblood. Rivers nourish all living beings and link us with ancestors. Te Puna o Riuwaka has special mana or status, because from here springs waiora – the waters of life. 

The water is cold, around 5-10C and the resurgence is considered to be a place of great healing and spirituality where people would come to cleanse their bodies and sustain their spirits. It is still a potent place and visitors are requested to be respectful and not to swim in the water or eat at the site. You can enjoy a virtual visit here.

Feeling refreshed and calm, it’s time to face the multitude of hairpin bends on the climb up The Hill.