Tangaroa and the Taniwha

On the dark, dreary night a crackle of lightning came out of the stormy sky. The wind was thunderous. The Maori had left Hawaiki in their wakas in search of a new land.

Suddenly from the murky depths rose an enormous Taniwha. The taniwha had ginormous eyes, sharp teeth and a long pointy tail. The monstrous taniwha devoured some of the wakas in one enormous gulp.

Hearing the sound of destruction brought Tangaroa to the surface to see what was happening. Tangaroa the god of the sea, was a giant, he had a moko around his massive face.Tangaroa had very long hair and he was the sea warrior. Tangaroa had huge muscles on his arms and a massive body. He was muscular and he had strong hands that held onto a taiaha.

Tangaroa was angry and red like a juicy apple. Tangaroa shouted loud as he held his taiaha “This is my sea”. Tangaroa again whacked angrily his razor sharp patu into the taniwha’s enormous flesh. The taniwha roared out in agony “Arghhh’’. The wretched taniwha squirted whero blood into the ocean. The ocean turned into a scarlet blood sea. The taniwha lay in three pieces.

From that day the warriors were safe in the water and tangaroa continued to look out for any other dangerous sea creatures. The three pieces of the taniwha turned into Aotearoa and the warriors went to their new, huge land. This was how Aotearoa was formed.