Western Springs and the creek that drains it are known to Maori as Te Waiorea for the long-finned eels (orea) that lived in the clear waters of the springs. Next to Waiorea is Te Rehu, the historic settlement of Te Taou, Ngaoho and Te Uringutu, along with their Tainui relations, Ngati Tahinga. In the 1820s these tribes stayed here under the chiefs Apihai Te Kawau and Ruku Taurua (Hiyama 1991). Te Rehu is usually cited as being beside the estuary where the creek from Waiorea meets the waters of the Waitematā (which according to Stone (2001) carried the name of Te Rehu), but gardens, waka routes, fishing and shellfish-gathering sites, mahinga kai, food preparation sites and the like would have extended out beyond this. Waiateao or Motion’s Creek drains to Waiorea and thence to the sea beside Titokaroa (Meola Reef) (Figure 3). David Simmons records that Kawharu, a warrior raised on the Manukau, led an attack from the north on the people of Tamaki in 1680. Kawharu came close to Waiorea at some point on the campaign and Nga Kauaewhati, ‘the broken jaw bones’, places a battle of this time overlooking Waiorea. Back along the ridge where Surrey Crescent runs today is Te Raeokawharu, ‘Kawharu’s brow’, marking a spot where the invading chief rested, and hence tapu for nearly 200 years (Hiyama 1991:2). From Watercare Grey Lynn tunnel
