The trail explores the town centre and along the Whakatane river bank. Key locations:
- Te Ana o Muriwai (Muriwai’s Cave) is part of the migration story of East Polynesians. The cave was also the retreat for a priest and one of the three landmarks used to identify the new land of Aotearoa New Zealand. They were Te Wairere (Wairere Falls), Te Ana o Muriwai (Muriwai Cave), and Te Toka o Irakewa (Irakewa Rock). The cave was the final resting place for Muriwai, daughter of Irakewa and mother of the Mataatua tribes.
- East Polynesian landfall site has a Mataatua waka (canoe) replica
- Irakewa Rock – the third significant landmark sighted by Toroa in his quest to settle Whakatane and is a stone’s throw from Muriwai’s Cave
- The Visitor Information Centre is situated in an area known as a place for fishing and a place for learning. The fishing nets were woven in the vicinity.
Muriwai’s cave in Whakatane, Bay of Plenty
