This is as written by Cath Brown for the children of Taumutu.

Tü Te Rakiwhänoa was a kaitiaki taniwha who lived in Te Waihora and the Räkaia River. He used to move from place to place through the underground streams that connect the river and the lake. He used to keep both Te Waihora and the Räkaia clean, so they were good places for ngä ika (fish), ngä manu (birds) and ngä tängata (people). He especially loved his gardens of tï kouka (cabbage trees), harakeke (flax) and toetoe that looked beautiful swaying in the wind.

But, he began to be very angry with Te Maru, the North West wind that raged through the mountains and blew rubbish into his river. He asked Te Maru to stop but Te Maru laughed and blew even harder.

After a while Tü Te Rakiwhänoa decided he would build a dam to stop the rubbish going down the Räkaia. He worked and worked to block up the path of the river while Te Maru was away. While he was working he got very hot and when he wiped the sweat from his brow it landed on the rocks - you can still find it there today. Because he was tired and sore after his hard work he moved off into the mountains to bathe in the hot pools.

While he was resting after his hard work, along came Te Maru. He was furious when he saw the dam. So he blew up a huge northwest gale that tore out the tï kouka, the harakeke and the toetoe and made a hole in the rocks of the dam. The place where he made the gap is now called the Räkaia Gorge. The rock walls are steep and rugged and the water rushes through the gap Te Maru made.

*When researching for the group who created a mural for Burnham primary school, the name of the Northwest wind used was Mauru. Some rocks where we can see the evidence of the sweat of taniwha sweat are the pink rocks and white rocks, which have flecks of mica in them. We sometimes pick them up at Taumutu when they have come down the river in a flood and along the coast to be flicked up on our beach.

*The legend of Fighting Hill has been recorded from early Päkehä settlers who recalled hearing from Mäori that Fighting Hill in the Räkaia Gorge above Windwhistle was so named because the northwest wind was often broken in its velocity and halted in its further destructive progress as it came into conflict with a wind blowing towards the west across the Canterbury Plains. This story also describes a taniwha who was an industrious gardener and who went on a cold day to find a hot spring to warm himself. While he was away the northwest wind came down the Räkaia from the Main Divide and destroyed all his cultivated plants of flax, cabbage tree and toe-toe. The taniwha re-established his gardens and then journeyed up the mountains and brought down huge boulders to make a dam to stop the wind and even trap it! He made the course of the Räkaia so narrow that it flowed between two high rocky walls and he put a keystone in the middle. This stone still remains as a rock island, which is part of the Räkaia Gorge bridge today. The North West wind, in his frantic attempts to clear his big pathway to the plains became so hot that the heat from his body melted the snow on the mountains and it roared down the river. The sweat of the taniwha became rock crystal in the bed of the river.

*Both these versions of the story are a big geography lesson and a cautionary tale as well. Today we all know that the Nor-wester roars down the Räkaia and funnels through the Gorge. We also know it is dangerous to cross the river when we have Nor-West conditions. Wise Mäori travellers consulted with the taniwha before crossing. Wise travellers of any ethnicity consult with the weather experts nowadays.

*The word Räkaia means the same as Rängaia in the northern dialects. In this case it means to stand in ranks and that would make sense as a method for crossing the river holding a branch or holding together in a line.

*There are some really old stories about the Räkaia River. One is from the Hawea people about Tü Te Waimate who travelled at great speed with giant-like strides from Kaiköura to a cave on the banks of the Räkaia to take a feed of häpuku to his brother called Moko. He is said to have jumped over the Waimakariri in one stride. His swiftness caused a great hot wind: Te Mäuru, the northwester.