The story of Taranaki
Taranaki
Taranaki once lived with the other mountains of the central North Island – Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe. Unfortunately, Taranaki fell in love with a pretty hill called Pihanga – who happened to be the wife of Tongariro.
After a fiery battle with Tongariro which he lost, the tall and handsome Taranaki, like many a young man, headed west. His falling tears at being banished are said to have created the Wanganui River as he gouged a path to the western coast of the North Island.
Here he stopped, and his falling tears as he looks back at Tongariro and his lost love Pihanga, are said to create the myriad of streams and rivers that flow from his near symmetrical slopes.
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