At different times, three ocean voyagers sailed into the Coromandel peninsula. Their names were Kupe, Hei and Cook. Each left a legacy of place names in this area, Justine Murray is in Whitianga.

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A feeling of rejection and loneliness, that's the story behind the name Mauao, to be caught by the light, but many know this place as Mount Maunganui.

Reon Tuanau - Storyteller nō Ngai te Rangi, Te Whānau a Tauwhao

Tommy Wilson - Author nō Pirirākau

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A moment of anxiousness and the abundance of bird life, two similar names but two very different stories.

There are two names associated with the Manukau harbour.

One name has to do with a waka trying to launch into the dangerous Manukau heads, the other name is about the abundance of bird life wading in the water.

Justine Murray is in Waiuku with Roimata Minhinnick (Ngāti Te Ata Waikohua) and Robbie Paora (Ngāti Whatua ki Orākei) to find out the stories of the name Manukau, the second largest harbour in Aotearoa.

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There's the main trunk line, a thriving timber industry and friendly folk. But is the story behind the name Taumarunui about a shelter or a fallen warrior?

One story about the name Taumarunui is that it was the last words of Te Peehi Turoa, a dying chief who wished to be shelterd by the sun. But according to local hapū Ngāti Rangatahi, Taumarunui was also the name of a warrior killed by a chief, Tama-aio.

Justine Murray is in the King Country to hear both sides of this story.

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On a return trip from the beach Nukutawhiti's daughter Rewa decided to have a nap, and the name Moerewa was born. Josie Kemp-Baker shares the story about the never-say-die Northland town.

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Have you assumed Paihia was a te reo word? It's actually a mash-up of Māori & English. But who said it and why?

Every year hundreds of people make the annual hikoi to Waitangi to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and the man who translated the Treaty has a bit to do with the naming of the town of Paihia.

This story begins seventeen years before the treaty was signed, when Henry Williams was scouting for a place to set up a mission house.

According to Ngati Kawa Taituha, Chair of Te Tii Marae in Waitangi, the name likely stems from a conversation between Williams and the scouting party from the tribes from Ngāti Kawa or Ngāti Rahiri, who were helping him find a good site.

We talk to Taituha and some Williams’ descendants about the history of the sunny Northland settlement. And we also learn from Taituha about another, original name that pre-dates Paihia.

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Wānaka is a resort town, an ideal movie location and was the backdrop to this years Matariki Celebrations. The name of this town is inspired by the teachings of the whare wānanga.

Read more about the Wānaka episode of Nau Mai Town here

From Treble Cone Ski Area in Wānaka, Kai Tahu heralded in the Māori New Year with the RNZ National's coverage of the Matariki Celebrations.

The name Wānaka in the Kai Tahu dialect has the same meaning as the word ‘Wānanga’ and both reference the teachings of Māori lore in the Whare Wānanga of old, these were places of higher learning.

But the former name of the Wānaka township was Pembroke named after Baron Sidney Herbert, he was the son of George Herbert the 11th Earl of Pembroke. In a 1948 recording of a show called ‘History and Harmony’ in Otago, host Selwyn Toogood brings that story to light.

Paulette Tamati Eliffe and Hana O’Regan are exponents of language revitilisation, they share the Kai Tahu story of the name Wānaka and the connection to the eponymous ancestor Rākaihautū.

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Nau Mai Town is back with another haerenga around Aotearoa to find out more about Māori place names.

Nau Mai Town is back with a bunch of stories about Māori place names. Justine Murray hits the road and heads to Wānaka, a place inspired by schools of higher learning. Paihia has pretty good pies, but the name came about after a scouting trip by christian missionaries, and the name Taumarunui harks back to hundreds of years ago during tribal warfare.

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It was thanks to the marketing genius of a land agent that resulted in a small Kāpiti Coast town being called Raumati, which means summer but does the town live up to that name?

On the Kapiti Coast a small coastal town was given a name that conjures up images of beaches, surf and sand.

Back in 1911 the name came about thanks to a clever marketing plan and it worked.

Raumati is a town and is a translation of the Engish word 'Summer'

But Raumati was not the original name of the town, in fact there were two previous names that originated from a local stream and a coastal town in England.

Justine Murray visits a few of the locals who are passionate about the town. The chair of the Raumati Community Board Bede Laracy point out that while the towns are minutes apart, Raumati South and Raumati Beach unique in their own way.

In this bonus episode of Nau Mai Town, Justine Murray joins Anthony Dreaver, Jackie Elliott, Sophie Handford and Bede Larracy.

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Rāhui Pōkeka is the original name of Huntly and it's based on the story of a rangatira who placed a rāhui on the rivers in order to replenish the tuna.

Rāhui Pōkeka is the original name of Huntly and it's based on the story of a rangatira who placed a rāhui on the rivers in order to replenish the tuna.

Postmaster James Henry missed his hometown of Huntly in Scotland so much that he named a small Northern Waikato town 'Huntly' and it's been that since 1877.

The Māori name of the town is Rāhui Pōkeka and its origin lies in the foresight of Waikato chief Te Putu who saw a need to replenish a dwindling food source.

Sheryl Matenga is the Chair of the Huntly Community Board and shares the story behind the name.

Te Putu was the great-great-grandfather of the first Māori King Pōtatau Te Wherowhero. Te Putu noticed the fish and eels in their rivers were depleted so he placed a rāhui (a restriction) on the area which forbid gathering kai.

To represent the rāhui in the physical sense Te Putu plucked a feather from his pokeka (cape or cloak) and tied it around the pou and hammered it into the ground.

If this pou was above the ground the rāhui stayed in place. On occasion Te Putu would hammer this pou further into the ground, after a time once the pou was covered the rāhui was lifted.

As a celebration Te Putu allowed the fishermen to gather kai again and their catch was divided equally amongst the villagers. According to Matenga, this act was called wawahitanga and it's where the name 'Waahi' pa originates.

The release of the rāhui was called 'Whakanoa' and is attributed to the name of Lake Hakanoa.

Justine Murray visits Rāhui Pōkeka and finds out more from the locals about their town, the negative media spotlight and yep, the DEKA sign is still there.

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