In Māori, place names (and proper nouns in general) are often quite descriptive.

Tūranga-nui-a-kiwa. (Gisborne/Poverty Bay)
Whānga-nui-o-Tara. (Wellington)
Piopiotahi. (Milford Sound)
Ngāmotu. (New Plymouth)

Learning the meaning of the individual words makes it much easier to remember the place names, as you’re remembering miniature stories, not memorising names.

Here’s an example for the Gisborne/Poverty Bay

Tūranga-nui-a-kiwa. (Gisborne)

Tūranga: (noun) stand, position, situation, site, foundation, stance
Nui: (verb) to be large, big, many, plentiful
Kiwa: An ancestor.

Tūranga-nui-a-kiwa / Gisborne / The big site of Kiwa

Here’s some more interesting actual background to this name.

Piopiotahi. (Milford Sound)

Piopio: A type of bird
Tahi: one.

Piopiotahi / Milford Sound / One bird

The Reo Project | Day 136

Welcome to my little corner of the internet.

I believe that place matters.

Our connection to whatever little corner of the planet we find ourselves in, or choose to place ourselves on, matters.

I'm relentlessly curious and continually learning.

My interests are scattered across topics including property, strategy, acoustics, psychology, theology, systems theory, quantum physics and leadership. I read, listen, watch, and learn about whatever grabs my attention in the moment.

This is a learning experiment.

I come here to try to make sense of something I’ve come across, by writing about it.

I’m immersing myself in a new language.

I’m learning to speak Te Reo Māori, the language of the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand and one of our official languages. After spending 2020 studying, I’m figuring out how to keep the journey going outside the classroom.

You’re welcome to follow along.