The Urikaraka from French Polynesia were the first arrivals to Waiheke some ten centuries ago.  Then came the descendents of Toi the great navigator and by the 1600s the Island was a hive of activity boasting an estimated population of some one thousand people.

At various times there were 50 pa sites on the Island for the people of Waiheke were great Pa builders.  There are still signs today of a defence system on the eastern hillside above Rorohara.  Certainly there are kumara pits above this fortification where food would have been stored away from the prying eyes of would be invaders.

Tribal expansion brought with it a time of ebb and flow as a succession of conquerors claimed ownership, albeit temporarily, of Rorohara.  By 1849 Chief Patena Puhata and his rather large family were permanent residents at Rorohara living down by the beach with Chief Patara living just around the corner.  It was during this time that the missionaries John Telford and Bishop Selwyn arrived on Waiheke to harvest souls.   Bishop Selwyn made camp at Rorohara staying a few days for prayers and to teach about Christ and religion.

“Chief Patara carried on this work preaching love and forgiveness while elsewhere in New Zealand there were many violent uprisings.  There beach gave them life with tuatua, paua, kutai (mussels), oysters, kina (sea eggs) and koura (crayfish) with a profusion of fish such as kahawai, snapper and kingfish for their nets.  Their fish was from fresh water from the spring above while beneath the giant canopy of kauri and totara they snared birds.  They were happy contented people.”

Rorohara became famous throughout Waiheke for the profusion of wild melons that grew there.  In 1858 a European party arrived at Rorohara and were invited to help themselves to melons and meet Chief Patara.  The result of their visit was to rename Rorohara Pie Melon Bay.  These melons can still be found in much smaller numbers at Rorohara and are sometimes made into Pie Melon jam. It wasn’t until the 1900s that Rorohara had its first of a succession of non Maori owners.    These early European owner’s never set foot on Rorohara, let alone lived there.  In the 1950’s the current owner of Rorohara started visiting Waiheke where he learned to swim and fish and fell in love with the Island.  But it was not until 1997 that he became the owner.