Whats in the name?

NEW ZEALAND stakes its claim on the Maori name for a hill near Porangahau, Hawkes Bay, which is spelt with either 85 or 92 letters. Visitors climb the hill in four-wheel-drive vehicles. The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel invites them to buy a "Collectors' Longest Place Name Bottle of Hawkes Bay Chardonnay or Cab Merlot."

The hill used to be called Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turipukaka ­pikimaunga ­horo­nuku­pokaiwhenua­kitana­tahu (85 letters). That's a combination of the words taumata (brow of a hill), whakatangihanga (music making), koauau (flute), o (of), tamatea (name of a famous chief), turi pukaka (bony knees), piki maunga (climbing a mountain), horo (slip), nuku (move), pokai whenua (widely travelled), ki (to), tana (his), tahu (beloved).

Hawkes Bay Tourism's Internet site says that Porangahau in New Zealand's South Island, "boasts the longest place name in the world: Tetaumata­whakatangihanga­koaua­o­tamatea­urehaeaturipuka­pihimaunga­horo­nuku­pokaiwhenuaa­kitana­rahu, officially entered in the Guinness Book of Records." That stretches the name to 92 letters.

It says the name means "The place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed, and swallowed mountains, known as land eater, played his flute to his loved one."
After ascending the hill, Gavin Kingsley, of Christchurch, in New Zealand's South Island, photographed a roadsign showing the name. The translation, he says, is "The brow of the hill where Tamatea, with the bony knees, who slid and climbed mountains, the great traveller, sat and played on the flute to his beloved."

With a touch of cynicism, Gavin adds "Local history has it that the part about the knees and climbing mountains was added recently to make the name more interesting." Seeking on-the-spot information, we e-mailed Winton Hall, owner of Porangahau Lodge, who replied: "Yes, we do in fact have the Longest Place Name in the World at Porangahau. It is no joke. You can check it out in the Guinness Book of Records.

"At the moment there is no real commercial use of the name but this could change in the near future. In the past I have run 4-Wheel Drive Safaris up to the summit of the hill but it has been fairly inaccessible. There is however new access proposed and the local iwi [Maori tribe] may turn it into a commercial attraction."