The mysteries and history of the Whakarewarewa Forest area will become easier to access thanks to a unique collaboration between Rotorua Lakes Council, iwi, and a local software developer.
Together they have created an app called Whakarewarewa Forest Loop that uses augmented reality, audio, video, and visual signage to tell the stories of local iwi and provide other interesting facts about the trail, forest, and surrounding area.
Tūhourangi has also announced a new arts venture.
“Tūhourangi has been caring for tourists from the Pink and White Terraces until today. These lands we are on now, Te Putake o Tawa, we have completed art pieces to exhibit and this new technology will help share our stories,” John Kapua Hurihanganui ( Tūhourangi, Ngāti Wāhiao) says.
Five taonga have been designed and on displayed at Te Putake o Tawa: They are Umukaria (chief) by artist Tukiri Tini, Hinemoa and Tūtānekai (historical romance) by Okiwi Logan Shipgood, Kataore (taniwha) by Tāwhanga Rika, Kēti Tāniko (modern Tūhourangi design) by Denise Morgan-Koia, and Wāhiao (son of Umukaria) by Iwi Le Comte.
Each of these taonga represents the ancestors and guardians of Te Arawa and the lands in which the many mountain biking communities traverse.
Mountain bike riders on the 33km trail, which traverses the Redwoods and adjacent Whakarewarewa Forest, will be able to access the stories using geo-located technology within the app, meaning the rider will access the content when they reach specific points along the trail.
It has been three years in the making, “making sure the stories have been told in the right way; some of the stories have been done by video; some by text; some by photo; some by augmented reality,” local software developer Matt Browning says.
“This initiative is an opportunity for tourists to engage in Tūhourangi and Ngāti Whakaue stories passed down from the ancestors, so they don’t think this is just a forest filled with pine,” Rangitihi Pene said on behalf of the Rotorua Lakes Council.
“This place has its stories to let all embrace them,” he says.
Big mountain bike spending
The contribution of mountain biking to the Rotorua economy is significant, with recent figures estimating it was $111 million of new spending in Rotorua last year.
Not only are the tracks catching the bikers’ attention but soon stories of Tuhourangi. Umukarea, Wāhiao, Hinemoa and Tūtānekai, and the guardian Kataore will be some of the stories being shared.
“This is to show the visitors we are a people who know our identity and that we have not lost our stories and, through our arts, many can experience our world, ”Hurihanganui says.
Tūhourangi Trust also announced it would be developing a by-Te Arawa-for-Te-Arawa Māori Mountain Biking Club, which Pene says and the council is ecstatic about.
The Whakarewarewa Forest Loop App can be downloaded from the Apple Store and Google Play.