Pania of the Reef - Napier - New Zealand

myminifactory

A Māori legend recounts how Pania abandoned the sea people to marry Karitoki, a chieftain whose whare was located in an area now known as Sturm's Gully on Napier's Bluff Hill. After Karitoki departed for battle in a long tribal war, Pania's original family called out to her at sunset and at dawn. Unable to resist their siren voices any longer, she swam towards them. When she tried to return to the shore, however, she was drawn down into the caverns of the sea. Enraged by her divided loyalties, Moana-nui-a-kiwa, lord of the sea, transformed her into a rocky shelf. Lying off the Napier breakwater, the beautiful sea creature is immortalized as Pania's Reef. The statue of Pania of the Reef was given to the city in 1954 by the Thirty Thousand Club. Vic Wallis, a member for almost 40 years, and Horace Cottrell, another member and strong supporter, conceived the idea of keeping alive the Māori legend after hearing the story from F A Bennett, the first Bishop of New Zealand.