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\nThe new sign for Kaip\u0101tiki Hot Springs.
\nPhoto: Supplied\/Te Poari o Kaip\u0101tiki ki Kaipara\n<\/p>\n
As 2025 ticked over into 2026, Parakai Springs near Helensville officially became Kaip\u0101tiki Hot Springs, the traditional name for the area which reflects the whakapapa of tangata whenua Ng\u0101ti Wh\u0101tua o Kaipara.<\/p>\n
The change comes as Te Poari o Kaip\u0101tiki ki Kaipara assumes management of the hot springs. The governors of Te Poari are appointed by Ng\u0101ti Wh\u0101tua o Kaipara and Auckland Council in equal numbers.<\/p>\n
Te Poari chairperson Mihi Blair said Kaip\u0101tiki literally translates to the abundance of p\u0101tiki, flounder, which the Kaipara area is quite famous for.<\/p>\n
The area was prized by Ng\u0101ti Wh\u0101tua t\u016bpuna for its abundance of healing, thermal waters, she said.<\/p>\n
“The wai was always used for recovery for all our wounded warriors during cold and warm days, and also the abundance across the wetlands and the swamps and tidal areas was always rich with kai, manu, eel tuna, and lots of kuharu and, you know p\u0101tiki, of course.”<\/p>\n
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\nTe Poari o Kaip\u0101tiki ki Kaipara Chairperson Mihi Blair.
\nPhoto: Supplied\/Te Poari o Kaip\u0101tiki ki Kaipara\n<\/p>\n
How Kaip\u0101tiki became Parakai<\/p>\n
Blair said her wh\u0101nau have a close history with Kaip\u0101tiki. In the early 1900s there was some confusion because there were two places called Kaip\u0101tiki in Auckland, one in Kaipara and one in Birkenhead, she said.<\/p>\n
“So the mail used to get misdelivered quite a bit.”<\/p>\n
“There was a community meeting held in the rohe of Kaipara and it was actually my great, great grandmother, Annie Emma Hamilton from Ng\u0101ti Maniapoto, who rightly got up and said, why don’t we just change Kaipara and switch it over and turn it to Parakai.<\/p>\n
“So that decision itself has had a massive historical impact. It was a decision made on practicality, quite solutions focused she was, but it changed history. So from a wh\u0101nau point of view, it’s something that we held dearly.”<\/p>\n
It was a natural decision to return the name Kaip\u0101tiki to the area, she said.<\/p>\n
“I was born and raised in the Kaipara area in Hellensville and so from Ng\u0101ti Wh\u0101tua, there was no stories being told in our rohe, within our playgrounds, within our schools and that. So we’re really taking this k\u014drero really seriously for the Kaipara area and we want to ensure that we bring not only our own uri along, but we also want to bring the community along that journey.”<\/p>\n
Blair said since 2011 when Ng\u0101ti Wh\u0101tua o Kaipara and the Crown agreed to a settlement, the iwi has been focussed on sharing the history of the area.<\/p>\n
The Parakai Recreation Reserve, which surrounds the springs, had already been renamed Kaip\u0101tiki Reserve so it was a natural decision to rename the springs at the conclussion of the previous lease on 31 December 2025, she said.<\/p>\n
Blair thanked the previous lease holders Parakai Springs Limited for their contribution to the economic growth of the area over the past three decades.<\/p>\n
Te Poari o Kaip\u0101tiki ki Kaipara will now assume management of the springs in partnership with Belgravia Leisure, who also work in partnership with Rotorua iwi Ng\u0101ti Whakaue running the Wai Ariki Hot Springs, she said.<\/p>\n
“[Belgravia] will bring in their expertise and they’ve done a really amazing job of supporting and ensuring that all our kaimahi there have been onboarded successfully and that actually the pools have remained open over this busy summer period. We had a very high, high influx of those who attended in the new year. So, you know, wh\u0101nau going there to use the pools, having BBQs. So the only difference that actually happened was the name change.”<\/p>\n
Blair said Te Poari are looking forward to seeing what can be developed and making sure the community are well involved in the design and the future of the pools.<\/p>\n