Poro-o-Tärao:

The range penetrated by the railway tunnel here was named after an incident of three centuries ago. The chief Tarao, with a party of his people, was retreating southward to the Taumarunui district after escaping from his besieged pa on Kawa hill (above the present Te Kawa railway station). The chief was slowly climbing the steep range ahead of his comrades, and his rapaki (waist-garment) was kilted high until, like Gunga Din, “the uniform ‘e wore was nothin’ much before, an’ rather less than ‘arf o’ that be'ind.” The sight of the well-bared chief amused his followers, and from that little incident of the climb the range came to be named “Te Poro-o-Tarao,” meaning “The Posterior of Tarao.”

Waimiha:

Originally Waimeha; literal meaning insipid, distasteful, but probably an ancestral personal name. The original Waimeha was a small Maori village some miles higher up the Ongarue Valley; the name was transferred to the railway station site.

Ongärue:

The place of shaking or shivering, as in an earthquake.

Te Koura:

The fresh-water crayfish.

Okahukura:

The home of Kahukura. Kahu Aarment; kura red. Kahukura is a symbolical term for the rainbow and the deity whose visible form it is.

Taringamutu:

Toringa ear; mutu, cut off, or mutilated.

Taumarunui:

The place of abundant shade. A tradition states that a chief who lay dying here out-of-doors asked that a screen or shelter should be set up to shade him from the hot sun; hence the name. Taumaru shaded, overshadowing; nui great, large.

Manunui:

Great bird.

Piriaka:

The twining forest vines. Piri to cling close; aka bush climbers of various kinds, including rata.

Kakahi:

Fresh-water shellfish.

Oio:

Probably a contraction of ioio sinewy, muscular; or puioio tough, knotty, applied to a tree.

Raurimu:

Rau leaf; riuu red pine. The name is probably a modern one, a transposed form of “Many Red-Pine Trees” (rau in this sense means a hundred, or many).

Erua:

Rua or e rua two.

Karioi:

Wandering about; lingering. Also often as kerioi; in Maori pronunciation.

Pokaka:

A small tree which grows on these highlands; scientific name Glaeocarpus Hookerianus. It is related to the hinou tree.

Horopito:

A handsome shrub, Alseuosmia macrophylla, which is plentiful in these parts. It has large glossy leaves and fragrant dark red flowers. The botanical name means “scent of the woods.”

Ohākune:

Origin uncertain, but apparently based on a personal name. Hakune be deliberate, be careful.