Ohomairangi

This pou or ancestral sculpture is at the start of the Tarawera Trail, beside Lake Tarawera (near Rotorua on North Island, NZ). According to the plaque it represents Ohomairangi ("Surprise from Heaven"), the ancestor who looks over these tribal lands. Mt Tarawera erupted in 1886 killing 153 people, but the capacity of the tribes to offer hospitality did not die with the destruction. The carving honours the Maori guides who used to show visitors the Pink and White Terraces, considered to be the eigth natural wonder of the world, but destroyed with the eruption.