A range of New Zealand made health products inspired by traditional Māori herbal remedies and supported by scientific research.

Aotea, also known as Great Barrier Island, is the 6th largest island of NZ with an area of 285 sq kilometres. It is where we make your products and it is also our namesake.Māori named the island Aotea meaning white cloud (ao – cloud, tea – white) as it appeared in the distance as a white cloud on the horizon. Aotea is also the name for one of great seven migratatory voyaging waka.
Despite its stunning natural beauty, its relative remoteness means it has remained unspoiled and a haven for native birds and plant life. Aotea is even free of some of the introduced pests which plague ecosystems in other parts of the country.Standing at the entrance to the Hauraki Gulf 100 kilometres NE of Auckland, its 43 kilometre long coast protects the inner waters of the Hauraki Gulf from Pacific Ocean storms, hence in 1769 Captain Cook giving it the European name, Great Barrier Island.
Today the Māori people of the island are Ngāti Rehua, a hapu (sub tribe) of Ngāti Wai and their connection with the island can be traced back over hundreds of years. Evidence of the tribe’s centuries long history can be found in the island’s many archaeological sites including pā (earthwork fortifications), storage pits and middens (food waste), terracing and stone working sites. The island was rich in resources which were heavily exploited by the early European settlers. Whales migrated along the coast and the remnants of the last whaling station built in NZ can be found at Whangaparapara. At its peak, in 1839 up to 200 whaling ships were in NZ waters. Whaling has long since been banned.Aotea’s huge kauri forests were intensively logged for their superb timber and gum and today you can still visit the site of the Kaiaraara main dam (the Lower Kauri Dam) once used to drive logs down the Kaiaraara Stream to the Kauri Timber Company milling operation at Whangaparapara on the coast. Today much of that forest has been regenerated and is protected by the Department of Conservation.Copper, gold and silver were all discovered between 1841 and the 1890s and the remains of the 1899 Oreville (ore crushing) stamping battery and numerous mineshafts and adits are testimony to the once thriving mining activity.

A short history of Ngāti Wai

Aotea is the Māori name for Great Barrier Island, the 285 square kilometre island of perfect coasts, lush native forest and supportive, outgoing, friendly people. For centuries, it has been the tribal home of members of the Ngāti Wai iwi, whose tribal territory is over Northland’s east coast. How they came to inhabit Aotea is a fascinating story.Ngāti Wai descends from Manaia. Manaia is reputed to have voyaged to New Zealand from Hawaiki. When he arrived in Aotearoa, he first stayed in Motu Kokako (Cape Brett) and various locales on and off the east coast of Northland, such as Maunganui, Whangaruru, Mimiwhangata, Whangarei Terenga Paraoa ('the meeting place of the whales’: in ancient times, whales would meet at Whangarei), Whananaki and Tawhiti Mahi (Poor Knights).
A great battle took place at Mimiwhangata between Ngāti Manaia (later known to be Ngāti Wai) and Ngā Puhi after the killing of a member of Ngapuhi Te Waero who had married into Ngāti Wai. Ngapuhi were dominant in this battle and afterwards, members of Ngāti Wai fled to parts of places off the east coast of Northland including Whangarei Heads, Pakiri, Auckland, and of course, Aotea. 
Today, the Māori land on Aotea is predominantly in the northwestern part of the island in Katherine Bay, where two marae stand, Te Kawa (south) and Te Motairehe (north).Ngāti Wai iwi’s symbol is Te Tukaiaia, the sea-hawk, who is seen to rest at locales preceding the seaborne arrival of Ngāti Wai. In ancient times, the cave Manawahuna was a place that Ngāti Wai would visit before battle to attain good luck. If they got wet, it was a good omen for the battle. 
Furthermore, the mana of Ngāti Wai stems directly from the waters, and from the taniwha and other spirits of the water. Their vision is to have all people fulfill their potential through having excellent health and a sense of personal wellbeing. This is expressed in their whakataukī or proverb:
Ma te whakaatu ka mohioMa te mohio ka maramaMa te marama ka matauMa te matau ka oraTena Tātou