Kakepuku

{{Infobox mountain | name = Kakepuku | photo = South side of Kakepuku viewed from the North Island Main Trunk Railway.jpg | photo_caption = Kakepuku from the south as seen from the North Island Main Trunk railway (Dec 2011) | photo_size = 300 | elevation_m = 449 | elevation_ref = | map_image ={{#tag:mapframe|[,{ "type": "Feature", "properties": { "marker-size": "small", "marker-color": "3e6e3e", "marker-symbol": "volcano", "title": "Kakepuku" }, "geometry": {"type": "Point", "coordinates":[175.25, -38.066667]} }]|frameless=1 |align=center |text=Kakepuku (green marker) on map of selected nearby surface volcanic features. |width=280 |height=280 |latitude=-38.066667 |longitude=175.25 |icon=no |zoom=10 }} | prominence = | translation = Ascending belly of Kahurere (flying cloak or hawk) | location = North Island, New Zealand | range = | coordinates = | topo = BE33 Pirongia http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz53324 | type = Volcano (extinct) | age = Pliocene | first_ascent = | easiest_route = from Kakepuku Rd | last_eruption = 2.5 million years ago }} Kakepuku (Te Kakepuku ō Kahu) is a volcanic cone that rises from the plain between the Waipā and Puniu rivers, about NW of Te Kawa and SW of Te Awamutu in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.

== History == Kakepuku was named Te Kakepuku ō Kahu ('the hill over which Kahu climbed') by Kahupeka, the bereaved widow of Uenga (descendant of Hoturoa, ariki of the Tainui waka). Following Uenga's death, Kahupeka left Kāwhia and set forth with her son Rākamaomao, naming many peaks across the Waikato region. Kakepuku translates as to climb the swollen belly. In Māori pūrākau (legend), Kakepuku travelled north in search of his father, until he reached the Waipa plain and fell in love with Te Kawa, daughter of Pirongia and Taupiri Mountains. However, he had a rival in Karewa, who also stood nearby. The mountains fought, Karewa lost and, pursued by Kakepuku's rocks, fled into the Tasman Sea, now also known as Kārewa / Gannet Island. So Kakepuku remains guarding Te Kawa.