Named for the aromatic shrub held sacred by Maori and used for medicinal purposes. Kawakawa leaves (also known as peppertree) were placed over cuts and boils to speed healing and used for kidney disorders. Tea was made from an infusion of its leaves.
Lying south of Paihia at the confluence of the Waiomio and Waiharakeke streams which flow into the Kawakawa River estuary and out to the Bay of Islands, it is clear why numerous Maori settlements dotted these vales in pre-European times.
A fortified pa at Ruapekapeka (which means 'the bat's nest') was built by Ngati Hine chief, Te Ruki Kawiti. It was bombarded and captured by British troops in 1846 who marvelled at the palisades, trenches and underground shelters when they finally entered the site - to find only a handful of Maori remaining. The rest had strategically withdrawn.
The Kawiti glow worm caves in the Waiomio Valley, just north of Kawakawa, lend their own history to the region. They were discovered in the early 17th century by Roku, who, as the runaway wife of Haumoewarangi of Ngatitu, hid in the caves until she was seen by Hineamaru, the famous female chief of Ngati Hine. Today the Kawiti Caves are owned and operated by Hineamaru's direct descendants.
In the 19th century Kawakawa was developed as a service town when coal was found in the area in 1861 and is the reason why the rail line was built. At the time, as the centre of the all-important coal mining industry and with a large trade in kauri gum, it became the chief town of the Bay of Islands.
