Mauao is the sacred mountain at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour. Its name,meaning "caught by the dawn", comes from the following Maori legend.

There was once a nameless hill. He was a pononga or slave to the great mountain called Otanewainuku. Nearby there lived a hill called Puwhenua,she was beautiful clothed by Tane Mahuta, the God of the Forest in his many varied colours. The nameless one desired Puwhenua, but her heart had already been won by Otanewainuku. So in despair he decided to drown himself in Te Moananui-a-Kiwa the Pacific Ocean.He called upon his friends the Patupaiarehe fairy people who dwelt in the dark of the forest. The Patupaiarehe were people of the night and possessed magical powers. The nameless one knew with their help he could fulfill his wish. When night fell they wraped the nameless one with ropes and began to pull him towards the ocean. As the Patupaiarehe pulled the nameless one along they carved a valley as they went. The tears of the nameless one filled this valley and became the Waimapu River,which still flows to this day.By the time they got the nameless one to the ocean shore the first rays of the sun were lighting the eastern sky.The Patupaiarehe being people of the night retreated back to the shadows of the forest leaving the nameless one at the place where he now stands.He was given the name Mauao,"caught by the dawn".