Taupo Block (Plimmerton) – Te Rauparaha

Taupo was the name of the land block, the stream and the main Ngati Toa Rangatira settlement, which extended along the shoreline here.  In 1846, the Crown took the great Ngati Toa Rangatira leader, Te Rauparaha, prisoner from this settlement.
The Taupo land block originally extended from Tawhiti Kuri to Haukopua East and included the flax swamp.  It was one of the places the Ngati Toa Rangatira people settled after spreading out from their Kapiti stronghold once they had dominated the territory, winning the last major battle against local iwi in 1824.
From at least the 1830s up until 1846, the Maori settlement at what is now Plimmerton was a principal kainga/village of the great leader of the Ngati Toa Rangatira iwi, Te Rauparaha, and therefore a centre of Ngati Toa Rangatira influence.  The hereditary leader of the iwi, Te Hiko o Te Rangi, (acknowledged by Te Rauparaha as the original owner of this area) was also based here.
The land at Taupo was highly desirable for garden cultivations and the sea had a great variety and an abundance of kai moana (seafood). Located midway between the Taupo swamp and the water’s edge, it was a perfect place for trading flax from the swamp for muskets and other European goods, and was an ideal crossing point between the north and south islands. Settlements on this part of the Taupo block at Plimmerton are thought to have stretched from the shelter of the hill opposite the current railway crossing, along the beachfront including the current site of the railway station, and around past the point where the Fire Station and Pavilion stand today.
https://www.plimmerton.nz/early-maori/taupo-block-te-rauparaha/

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