Pania of the Reef. Napier. New Zealand. - Epic Beings and Creatures on Waymarking.com

There is no story more romantic than that of Pania, the beautiful maiden of the sea people and Karitoki, her handsome Maori lover.

The Legend of Pania:
Pania today is a ledge or reef of rock, lying about four miles beyond Hukarere point.
The Napier breakwater was the home of Pania, a beautiful sea maiden who, in ancient times, daily swam shorewards at the setting of the sun and returned to her sea people before the break of day.
While on shore she hid herself in a clump of flax beside a freshwater spring at the foot of Hukarere cliff, close by the sea.
One evening Karitoki, a chief who lived in a nearby Pa, became thirsty, and went for a drink at the spring.
While drinking from his calabash he spied Pania sitting in the middle of the flax bush.
There and then he took her to his home, and they slept as man and wife.
But always, every morning, Pania would return to her sea folk and every evening come back ashore to her husband.
After a while Pania gave birth to a son who was completely without hair and so was named Moremore, 'the hairless one.'
With the birth of this child, Pania's husband became concerned that he might lose him to the sea people.
So he consulted a tohunga, in the hope of finding how to keep his child and wife with him always.
The tohunga told him to place cooked food upon the mother and child while they slept, and they would never again return to the sea.
Evidently something went amiss. Perhaps the food was not properly cooked; for Pania returned to her people never to return.
The child Moremore was turned to a shark, a taniwha, which lived in the waters around the reef off Hukarere, and at Rangatira, the entrance to the inner harbour at the delta of the river called Ahuriri.
When fishermen of today tell the legend of Pania, they claim that at ebb-tide she may be seen lying outstretched at the bottom of the rocky shelf, with her hair still as black as ever and her arms stretched shoreward.
According to the old people's stories, however, she was turned into a fishing rock, from which various kinds of fish might be caught.
Within the hollow of her left arm-pit only rawaru may be caught, and from her right arm-pit snapper alone, while her thighs yield only the hapuka.
In the days of old these fishing grounds were sacred, but today, being frequented by both Maoris and Pakehas, the place has become common to all and fish are no longer plentiful.

The statue was first formed in clay from a photograph of Mei Robin (now Mei Whaitiri), who was 15 at the time. A mould was made of the clay figure and then was cast in bronze by the Italian Marble Company of Carrera, Italy and brought back here in 1954. It sat on a limestone base on Napier's Marine Parade.

Theft of Pania:
On 27 October 2005 the iconic bronze statue of Pania of the Reef was ripped from its standing of more than 50 years in a mysterious night time heist. The people of Napier and indeed of the entire country were shocked and outraged. Police were unsure of the motive although they thought a ransom was possible. Local iwi gathered to pay their respects, pray for her return and to issue a challenge to her captors which involved a karakia that according to Tareha "wasn't very nice". Everyone was hoping the statue did not suffer the same fate as mythological Pania and local iwi warned that the thieves could be in for some Maori mythological payback if she wasn't returned soon.
There was great relief when Pania was recovered by police on November 4th and after some restoration work was replaced in Marine Parade garden on November 16th. Pania was re-attached to a granite base and an official unveiling ceremony took place attended by hundreds of people.

Several people were arrested and in sentencing at the Napier District Court, Judge Dean said the monetary worth of Pania was irrelevant. He said it is the cultural value of the statue which is significant.
Pania is greatly loved by all New Zealanders, a true epic being.

Time Period: Modern Epic Type: Mythical Exhibit Type: Figure, Statue, 3D Art Approximate Date of Epic Period: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To post a log for this waymark, take a picture of the location and tell at least 'a little' bit about your encounter, impression or experience.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   02/04/2018 InGodsHands visited it 01/05/2018 bucketeer visited it 07/23/2015 waiiti20 visited it 03/30/2013 greysman visited it 01/17/2012 No Fixed Aboder visited it 11/15/2010 Punga and Paua visited it 04/11/2010 taybee visited it 09/30/2008 Punga and Paua visited it

View all visits/logs