Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei gifted basalt boulders

A six-wheeler truck this month delivered a heavy load of basalt rock from our Mt Eden Station site to Mana Whenua partners Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei for their new Pourewa Nursery site.

Iwi will use the basalt as visual markers and edging when the nursery – known as the Māra Kai food gardens – opens in Ōrākei.

Mt Eden Station has a rich volcanic history that includes the eruption of Maungawhau (Mt Eden) over 28,000 years ago. As Link Alliance crews continue excavating the trenches that will become the new City Rail Link line, large pieces of basalt from the eruption are regularly unearthed.

Dane Tumahai, Pourewa Site Manager is delighted with the delivery. “Thank you for your kind assistance and goodwill to transport the boulders from our ancestral maunga to our ancestral lands here at Pourewa,” he says.

“Given the historical significance of these boulders, they will play a pivotal role and be located amongst our newly developed Māra Kai food gardens”.

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