Nō te 6 o Pēpuere i te tau 1903 i whānau ai a Katerina Waetford i Whakapara i Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands). Hei tamāhine ia mā Mereana Teruhi Allan Nēhua rāua ko Hāre Paerau Waetford, he waoko ia. I heke mai a Katerina i a Ngāpuhi, ā, he uri hoki ia nō Eru Patuone o Ngāti Hao o Te Hokianga, te tuakana rā o Tāmati Waka Nene. Riro ana nā tana tupuna wahine ia i whakatipu. Ka mutu tana haere ki te kura i Whakapara ka noho ia ki te āwhina i te kāinga. Nō te 11 o Āperira i te tau 1923 i moea ai e Katerina a Joseph (Hōhepa) Darley i Whakapara, kua wehe tūturu ia i tana wahine tuatahi i te tau 1921. He tangata mahi pāmu nō taua takiwā tonu te tangata nei, ēngari i whānau kē mai hoki i Ingarangi. I muri i tō rāua mārenatanga he mahi kaikeri te mahi a Hōhepa. Nō te tau 1927 pea i nuku atu ai te tokorua nei me tā rāua whānau kōhungahunga ki Poihākena (Sydney). He kaiaka mīhini te mahi a Hōhepa i reira, ēngari i muri mai whakamutua ana tana mahi; mutu ake ana e iwa marama ia e kore ana e mahi, kua rawakore kē te whānau.
I ngā tau o te korekore, aro nuitia ana e te katoa te mahi kauhoe matatū, tae atu ki te nui o te moni i tukua hei paraihe. Ko te tikanga mō ngā whakataetae me mānu tonu te tangata, kaua e pā ki raro, e pā atu rānei ki ngā taha o te terenga wai. I a Katerina i Pēwhairangi i uru ia ki tētahi whakataetae pēnei, e 25 hāora tana roa i roto i te wai. Nō te marama o Hānuere 1931 i whakauru atu ia ki tētahi whakataetae matatū i ngā terenga tai moana i Manly. Inarā ko te paraihe tuatahi e £300 te nui, i tino tūmanako ia kia riro mai i a ia. E ono tekau ngā tauwhawhai i uru ki te whakataetae nei. Ko Lily Copplestone o Aotearoa tonu tētahi o ngā kaikauhoe matatū, rāua ko te kaikauhoe rongonui, ko Mercedes Gleitze, nāna nei i kau te hawai o Ingarangi. I tana whakaurunga atu ki te whakataetae mau kē mai ana a Katerina i te īngoa o tana māmā, o Nēhua. I tō rāua haerenga atu ko Hōhepa ki te wāhi whakataetae, waiho ana e Katerina tana pēpi, e iwa wiki noa te pakeke, me āna tamariki kōhungahunga tokotoru ki tētahi o ōna hoa noho tata, tiaki ai. Kia kore ai e pau noa tōna kaha, he mea whakapau e rāua ko Hōhepa te whakamutunga o ā rāua moni hei utu i te taramu, hei hari i a rāua ki te whakataetae. Nā runga i te āwangawanga ō ngā kātipa kāore anō ia i kai mō tētahi wā e hia kē nei te roa, whāngaitia ana a Katerina e rātou ki te tiakarete me tētahi unu tī, he mea mahi mai i te mīti kau. Nā te mea kāore āna moni hei hoko i tētahi tino hinu nei e kore ai e mate te kaikauhoe i te makariri, pania ana ia ki tētahi ranunga hinu ōriwa, hinu paewīra.
Nō te hāora 9.44 i te pō te kuhunga atu o Katerina ki te wai; i rangona tonutia ia e karanga ana, ka pūtohe tonu ia ki te noho tonu i roto i te wai, āpānoa wahaina rawatia mai ia ki waho. Hei whakapau i te tāima i a rātou i roto i te wai, he kōrerorero te mahi a ngā kaiwhakataetae, arā, mō te momo mau kākahu o te wā, mō ngā pikitia, ā, e kōrero nūpepa ana. Nā te kaiāwhina te kai i hoatu ki a rātou. Mutu kau noa mai ko ngā tokorua nei ko Nēhua rāua ko Mercedes Gleitze e toe tonu ana i roto i te wai. Kua neke kē noa atu tō rāua nā roa i roto i te wai i tō Gleitze i a ia i toa ai i te 43 hāora i Ākarana (Auckland) i te marama i mua atu. Pau ana i a Nēhua te 47 hāora 52½ meneti e mānu ana i te moana karekare, makariri hoki. Kitea atu ana te mamate haere o Nēhua, ā, me puta ia i te wai ka tika. Ēngari anō a Gleitze, e 22½ meneti tana roa atu i te wai, ā, riro anō hoki i a ia te tahua. Nā tana mīharo ki te kaha o Nēhua i hoatu ai e Gleitze £100 o tana paraihe ki a ia, hei tāpiri atu ki te £100 mōna, i riro i a ia mōna i tuarua.
Nō te marama o Maehe i te tau 1931 i whakauru atu ai a Nēhua ki tētahi whakataetae kauhoe matatū i te moana tūraha i te kokoru o Rushcutters i Poihākena. I te paunga ake o te marama, hinga ana i a ia te rekoata mō te ao, i ngā terenga wai o Balmoral i Poihākena, 72 hāora e 9 meneti tana roa e kau haere ana. Nō muri tonu mai i tana kauhoetanga, e ai ki tāna i kōrero ai i runga i te reo irirangi ki ngā minenga o Ahitereiria me Aotearoa, me whai kaha te tangata ki te noho mō te katoa o te pō i roto i te wai. Nō reira i kī mai ia ki te hunga tamariki e hiahia nei ki te kaukau matatū, hei aha. Ahakoa tonu, tukitukia ana e ia tana rekoata o te ao, i te marama o Mei 1931 i te terenga wai o te tāone o Brisbane, 72 hāora, 21 meneti tana roa e kauhoe ana. Nō te marama o Maehe 1932 i whakamātau ia ki te kauhoe kia 100 hāora te roa, ēngari 60 hāora noa tana kaha, ka puta ake ia i te wai. Kāore i te mōhiotia mehemea i whakataetae anō ia.
He wahine hīkaka a Katerina Nēhua ki tōna reanga hapori o Aotearoa ki roto o Poihākena, ā, he pou whakarae anō hoki ia i te karapu poronihiana (Polynesian Club). I whai wāhi atu hoki ia ki ngā whakahaere o te hui whakanui i te Rā o Waitangi (Waitangi Day) i te tau 1940. I hoki mai ia ki Aotearoa nei i te tau 1931 me tētahi wā anō i te takiwā o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao. Nā te mate manawa i hinga ai a Katerina ki Poihākena i te 15 o Hune 1948, ā, e 45 ōna tau ka mate nei ia. Kua mate kē atu tana hoa tāne, ēngari kāore i te mōhiotia te wā, i mate rānei i hea; mahue pani mai ana ā rāua tamāhine tokorima.