He whenua muna te rohe waiariki i te puku o Te Ika-a-Māui: kōrero ai ōna ngāwhā, waiariki, puia mō te mana huna kei te puku o te whenua. I mārama ngā tīpuna mō te ahi ka mura i raro whenua, atu i Whakaari ki Tongariro i te tonga o te tāone o Tūrangi.
A Ngātoroirangi rātou ko ana tuāhine
Kei te mau tonu i a Ngāti Tūwharetoa ngā kōrero mō Ngātoroirangi rātou ko ana tuāhine. E kī ana te iwi, nā Ngātoroirangi rātou ko ana tuāhine a Te Hoata rāua ko Te Pupu, ka tae te ahi ki Aotearoa mai i Hawaiki. I te ūnga o Te Arawa, ka toro a Ngātoroirangi ki uta; ā, nāna i tūhura te moana o Taupōnui-a-Tia. Ka haere tonu ia, ka tae ki Onetapu, i te tonga o Tūrangi. Ka pā te mātao me te anuanu ki tōna tinana. Ka karanga ia ki ana tuāhine kia haere mai i Hawaiki ki te whakamahana i a ia. Ka kawea mai e rāua te ahi kā mā roto kē i te whenua. I tā rāua haerenga mai, ka tū rāua ki ētahi wāhi; whāia, ka puta he waiariki, he puia ki aua wāhi.
I whakanuia te kawenga mai o te ahi e Rihi Puhiwahine, he kaitito waiata rongonui o Ngāti Tūwharetoa. I titoa e ia tēnei waiata mō tōna ipo a Mahutu Te Toko o Ngāti Maniapoto:
Kāti au ka hoki ki taku whenua tupu
Ki te wai koropupū i heri mai nei
I Hawaiki rā anō e Ngātoro-i-rangi
E ōna tuāhine, Te Hoata, Te Pupu
E hū rā Tongariro, ka mahana i taku kiri.1
Takiwā o te ahi wera
Ka haere mai a Te Hoata rāua ko Te Pupu mā Whakaari, kātahi ka ahu whakauta. Rokohanga atu ko Taupō, kātahi ka whai tō rāua ara i te taha uru o te moana kia tae ki tō rāua tungāne i runga i a Tongariro. I tō rāua hokinga ki te raki, ka ahu rāua mā te taha rāwhiti o te moana o Taupō. Anei ētahi wāhi i mahue te ahi:
- Whakaari (White Island)
- Tarawera
- Whakarewarewa
- Tikitere
- Waimangu
- Ōrākei-kōrako
- Tokaanu
- Tongariro