53-590: The Tauhoa River is an estuarial arm of the Kaipara Harbour in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island . As part of the harbour's drowned valley system, it consists of narrow channels flowing south through expanses of mudflat to meet with the main waters of the Kaipara due east of the harbour entrance. The Tauhoa Channel links the entrance with the river mouth. In pre-European times,
106-523: A Māori village, is in the south east of the peninsula. Much of Pouto – over 600 ha – is covered by sand dunes, which are one of the largest unmodified dune systems in New Zealand. Many of the dunes rise over 100 m above sea level, and the highest reaches 214 m. There are also both permanent and temporary wetlands, and more than 20 freshwater lakes and swamps. The interior is planted in exotic forests. Several threatened plants, birds, invertebrates and
159-421: A customs house and pilot station were built at Pouto. A signal mast was erected in the sandhills at North Head in 1876, 5–6 miles west of the station. The following year, a telegraph system was set up between the two. A lighthouse was built at North Head in 1884. The customs office was shifted to Te Kōpuru in 1903. The lighthouse was automated in 1947, and closed in the mid-1950s. The structure still exists and
212-496: A freshwater fish are found on the peninsula. There have been 113 recorded shipwrecks around Kaipara North Head, because the low-lying peninsula makes the north head of the Kaipara Harbour treacherous, and there are a lack of landmarks on the peninsula from which to take bearings. Tradition recounts that Rongomai , the captain of the waka Māhuhu , drowned when his canoe capsized near the entrance to Kaipara Harbour in
265-515: A grandson of the Arawa captain, settled at Pouto near the North Head, killing or driving away some of the previous occupants. According to tradition, the greater area of Kaipara is called after a hāngī Taramainuku hosted, at which the para fern ( Marattia salicina ) was served. ("Kai" is a Māori language word meaning "food".) In the late 17th century, or early 18th, Ngāti Whātua occupied
318-409: A museum which commemorates the kauri industry and the early Pākehā settlers. Today, Dargaville is the principal centre in the Kaipara area. Its population levelled in the 1960s. It is the country's main kūmara (sweet potato) producer. Much of the coastal fishing industry in New Zealand depends on mangrove forests . About 80% of fish caught commercially are linked to food chains dependent on
371-434: A perception amongst locals that commercial fishers have damaged fisheries in the Kaipara. Locals have been frustrated in their attempts to gain government support. The veteran filmmaker Barry Barclay has examined this in his 2005 documentary, The Kaipara affair . Currently (2007) about 219,000 cubic metres of sand is mined each year from the entrance and tidal deltas of the Kaipara. This sand contributes over half
424-769: A population density of 3.4 people per km . Kaipara Coastal had a population of 3,690 at the 2018 New Zealand census , an increase of 261 people (7.6%) since the 2013 census , and an increase of 243 people (7.0%) since the 2006 census . There were 1,383 households, comprising 1,923 males and 1,764 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.09 males per female. The median age was 44.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 726 people (19.7%) aged under 15 years, 594 (16.1%) aged 15 to 29, 1,695 (45.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 672 (18.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 79.2% European/Pākehā, 30.4% Māori, 3.1% Pacific peoples, 2.9% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas
477-779: A sheltered harbour as elongated sand dune barriers formed at the harbour's mouth. Over the last two million years, the harbour has cycled between periods of being a forested river valley and a flooded harbour, depending on changes in the global sea level . The present harbour formed approximately 8,000 years ago, after the Last Glacial Maximum . The Kaipara Harbour is a productive marine ecosystem , with diverse habitats and ecotones . There are tidal reaches, intertidal mudflats and sandflats, freshwater swamps , maritime rushes , reed beds and coastal scrublands . The area includes 125 square kilometres of mangrove forest . with subtidal fringes of seagrass . The Kaipara
530-801: Is a migratory bird habitat of international significance. Forty–two coastal species are known, and up to 50,000 birds are common. Rare species use the harbour for feeding during summer before returning to the Northern Hemisphere to breed, such as the bar-tailed godwit , lesser knot , and turnstone . Threatened or endangered native species, such as the North Island fernbird , fairy tern , crake , Australasian bittern , banded rail , grey‑faced petrels , banded and NZ dotterels , South Island pied oystercatcher , pied stilt , and wrybill are also present . Significant local populations of black swan , pūkeko , and grey duck also breed in
583-502: Is dairying on the rich Ruāwai flats . These flats are below sea level, and are protected by a stopbank and a drainage system. Coastal sawmill settlements at Tinopai , Arapaoa, Batley , Matakohe , Oneriri, Ōruawharo, Pahi , Paparoa , Tanoa and Whakapirau (history photos on the Whakapirau Community Website) have become quiet backwaters. Pahi has become a launch point for houseboats and fishing. Matakohe has
SECTION 10
#1732790183313636-482: Is expected to generate 0.75 MW averaged over time. The peak level of generation for the combined turbines is about 200 MW. This exceeds the projected peak electricity needs of Northland . It would have environmental benefits in offsetting annual carbon emissions from a thermal-based, gas turbine generator of 575,000 tonnes of carbon. The project was costed at about $ 600 million and to be economic would have to be scaled up rapidly to near full capacity. However, while
689-420: Is needed on biodiversity in the Kaipara Harbour and habitats in associated coastal areas. A recent pilot survey found that habitats in the estuaries are still extensive, but ninety percent of land cover is no longer indigenous wetland or vegetation. Even if the key existing areas were to be protected, further buffers and corridors that give better connection between the natural areas would be needed to encourage
742-534: Is required to conclude that any of them are Spanish or Portuguese. The oral tradition of Pouto elders, however, did mention a Spanish ship, helmets, armour in the sand, and buried treasure. Descendants of the Māhuhu crew settled around Pouto and the South Head of Kaipara Harbour, possibly in the 13th century CE. Some of the crew of Aotea may have joined them in the 14th century. In the 15th century, Taramainuku ,
795-607: The Caspian tern . The birds have moved to other parts of Kaipara Harbour, possibly due to human disturbance. An air weapons range used by the New Zealand Defence Force is a short distance south of the spit. Māori settlements and marae have been scattered around the harbour margins for hundreds of years. The waterways of the Kaipara provided, and still provide, Māori with resources and a ready means of moving between marae. Today most marae are associated with
848-510: The Manukau , and is the single most significant wetland for west coast fisheries. In 2009, NIWA scientists discovered that 98 percent of snapper on the west coast of the North Island were originally juveniles from nurseries in the Kaipara. Snapper is New Zealand's largest recreational fishery , and is also a commercial fishery with an annual export value of $ 32 million. The findings show how fragile some fish stocks can be, and highlights
901-453: The Ngāti Whātua sub-tribes, Te Taoū and Te Uri-o-Hau . These sub-tribes both descend from the chief Haumoewhārangi who settled on the north end of the Kaipara entrance at Poutō . He was killed in an argument about kūmara (sweet potatoes). His widow Waihekeao developed a partnership with a Tainui warrior chief, Kāwharu. Kāwharu led several destructive campaigns around Kaipara. Eventually
954-485: The Tasman to Australia. The Kaipara River is the principal river feeding Kaipara Harbour from the south. From 1863 Helensville established itself as a timber port on this river, and provided shipping services about the Kaipara. When the timber ran out, Helensville developed sheep and dairy farms, and more recently nut plantations, vineyards and deer farms. Further south, Riverhead was an important trading link with
1007-465: The Tasman Sea . It narrows to a width of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi), and is over 50 metres (160 ft) deep in parts. On average, Kaipara tides rise and fall 2.10 metres (6.9 ft). Spring tidal flows reach 9 km/h (5 knots) in the entrance channel and move 1,990 million cubic metres per tidal movement or 7,960 million cubic metres daily. The harbour head is a hostile place. Big waves from
1060-478: The Auckland region means the road costs of transporting sand from further parts of the country are avoided. Concerns about possible negative consequences of this sand mining have also been raised. In 2008, Crest Energy, a power company, received resource consent to install about 200 underwater tidal turbines in the Kaipara Harbour, which would use the substantial tidal flows moving in and out every day near
1113-532: The Crown settled the historical claims of Te Uri o Hau , a hapū of the northern Kaipara Harbour. As part of the settlement, access to and the rights of the hapū to gather oysters within the existing "Maori Oyster Areas" were recognised. In 2008, resource consent was given to Biomarine to establish New Zealand's largest oyster farm in the Kaipara. The farm is projected to produce about NZ$ 30 million in annual exports and 100 new jobs. In recent years, there has been
SECTION 20
#17327901833131166-593: The Department of Conservation had approved the project, and had made substantial environmental monitoring conditions part of the consent, the project also had objectors on the grounds of claimed influences on the local ecosystems and charter fishing (see the section above on fisheries ). Appeals before the Environment Court are still likely. The project was put on hold by Crest Energy in late 2013; its director Anthony cited several issues that prevented
1219-494: The Kaipara and Helensville, and a centre for gum digging. Also set by a river, it milled timber and flour, and made paper. Later it turned to tobacco. From 1929 to 1933, the Riverhead State Forest was developed from 5,000 ha of exhausted gum land. As the kauri ran out, the Kaipara became a backwater. After 1920 the gum and timber industries dwindled, and farming, mainly dairying, took over. In particular, there
1272-567: The Kaipara became a busy timber port from the 1860s, shipping thousands of tonnes of kauri timber and gum . The first sailing ship wrecked at the entrance to the harbour was the Aurora in April 1840. The brigantine Sophia Pate was wrecked at South Head in August 1841 with the loss of all 21 on board. The Wairoa is the main river feeding the Kaipara from the north. Thirty kilometres upstream,
1325-533: The Pouto Peninsula as part of their move southwards. In 1820, during the Musket Wars , Ngā Puhi laid siege to Ngāti Whātua's Tauhara pa near Pouto, but were unable to capture it. A truce was agreed, to be cemented by the marriage of a Ngā Puhi chief to the daughter of a Ngāti Whātua chief. During the festivities, Ngā Puhi and their allies suddenly turned on their hosts and massacred them. In 1874,
1378-529: The Pouto Peninsula – the history of the Pouto, Waikare, Punahaere and Rangitane schools – gives an overview of education and history on the peninsula up until 1984 – the centenary. Kaipara Coastal statistical area extends north past Aranga to the boundary with the Far North District . It covers 1,248.03 km (481.87 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 4,200 as of June 2024, with
1431-535: The Tasman Sea break over large sandbanks about five metres below the surface, two to five kilometres from the shore. The sand in these sandbanks comes mainly from the Waikato River . Sand discharged from this river is transported northward by the prevailing coastal currents. Some of this sand is carried into the Kaipara harbour entrance, but mostly cycles out again and then continues moving northwards along
1484-656: The Tauhoa River was important to the Tāmaki Māori people of the Kaipara Harbour . The Opou portage allowed waka to be transported across the Okahukura Peninsula between the Oruawharo and Tauhoa rivers. This article about a river in the Auckland Region is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kaipara Harbour Kaipara Harbour is a large enclosed harbour estuary complex on
1537-427: The area. Land habitats adjacent to the harbour support some rare botanical species, including native orchids, the king fern , and the endangered kaka beak . In particular, Papakanui Spit on the south head of the harbour entrance, a mobile sandspit , is important as a breeding and roosting area for the New Zealand dotterel and the fairy tern . It also has areas of pingao . The spit was an important habitat for
1590-413: The causes of which have not been identified. Concerns in recent years about the size and availability of scallops have resulted in temporary closures of the scallop fisheries. Early versions of oyster farming occurred between the early 1900s and 1950s. Thousands of tons of rocks were placed along the shorelines to act as an additional substrate on which the natural rock oyster could grow. In 2002,
1643-420: The descendants of Waihekeao and Haumoewhārangi came to control the Kaipara Harbour. Te Uri-o-Hau was founded by Hakiputatōmuri, and controlled the northern part of Kaipara Harbour. Te Taoū was founded by Mawake, and controlled the south. In 1839, European settlers began arriving in the Kaipara to fell and mill kauri trees and build boats for local requirements. Despite the perilous bar at the harbour entrance,
Tauhoa River - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-694: The early days of Māori settlement of New Zealand. The first recorded shipwreck was of the Aurora , a 550-ton barque, in 1840, and the most recent was the charter fishing vessel Francie in 2016. New Zealand film maker Winston Cowie investigated potential Portuguese or Spanish shipwrecks on the Pouto Peninsula and recorded the oral tradition from interviews on the Iberian discovery question in his books Conquistador Puzzle Trail and Nueva Zelanda, un puzzle histórico: tras la pista de los conquistadores españoles . Cowie concludes that more research and investigation
1749-426: The harbour mouth to produce electricity for approximately 250,000 homes. Crest planned to place the turbines at least 30 metres deep along a ten kilometre stretch of the main channel. Historical charts show this stretch of the channel has changed little over 150 years. The output of the turbines will cycle twice daily with the predictable rise and fall of the tide. Each turbine will have a maximum output of 1.2 MW, and
1802-457: The importance of protecting natural habitats, like the Kaipara. Native rock oysters are plentiful on the rocky shores, and the introduced Pacific oysters flourish lower in the intertidal zone. There are cockles and tuatua on the lower tidal flats, mussels from low tide on the rocks to subtidal beds closer to the mouth of the harbour, and scallops in the tidal channels. The scallop population has periodic incidences of high mortality,
1855-515: The interior of the peninsula at the northeast of the harbour, one of them ending near the town of Maungaturoto , only ten kilometres (6 mi) from the Pacific Ocean coast. The harbour has extensive catchments feeding five rivers and over a hundred streams, and includes large estuaries formed by the Wairoa , Otamatea, Oruawharo , Tauhoa (Channel) and Kaipara . A number of small islands off
1908-449: The land and sedimentation in the harbour. Shellfish abundance has declined, especially toheroa, scallops, tuatua, cockles and pipi. Finfish like mullet, snapper, kanae and school shark have diminished. Habitat fragmentation has also occurred. Natural vegetation in the Kaipara catchments have been reduced to islands of wetlands and forest in human-made landscapes—separated by urban areas, roads, exotic forests and pastures. More information
1961-446: The main issues, with "ninety-nine per cent of the rivers in the catchment [are] polluted". As part of the worldwide trend, there is a decline in biodiversity within the Kaipara. The timber industry removed most of the native forest. Much of the kauri and kahikatea forest, and scrub and riparian vegetation, has been replaced with farm and urban areas. Mangrove forests and wetlands have been "reclaimed". Soil erosion has increased on
2014-521: The mangroves, and at least 30 species of fish use mangrove wetlands at some stage of their life cycle. The marine and estuarine areas in the Kaipara Harbour breed snapper , mullet , flounder , sole , kahawai , white trevally , gurnard , yellow‑eyed mullet and skates , rays and sharks . The Kaipara is the largest estuarine harbour on the west coast of New Zealand and provides significant areas of suitable breeding grounds and habitats for juvenile fish. It has fewer problems with water quality than
2067-579: The name Kaipara had its origins back in the 15th century when the Arawa chief, Kahumatamomoe , travelled to the Kaipara to visit his nephew at Pouto . At a feast, he was so impressed with the cooked root of the para fern , that he gave the name Kai-para to the district. Kaipara comes from the Māori kai meaning "food", and para meaning "king fern". The harbour extends for some 60 kilometres (37 mi) from north to south. Several large arms extend into
2120-582: The north west region of New Zealand as a whole, but does not tailor quota specifically for the Kaipara. Local iwi feel they are not sufficiently involved in management issues, and to further compound matters, the local iwi is split between Te Uri-o-Hau in the northern part and Te Taoū in the southern part. As of 2011, the environmental state of the harbour has been called as "nearing crisis" and "in significant decline", with shrinking fish and shellfish stocks, more sedimentation, declining water quality and competition for resource use and development being noted as
2173-716: The north western side of the North Island of New Zealand. The northern part of the harbour is administered by the Kaipara District and the southern part is administered by the Auckland Council . The local Māori tribe is Ngāti Whātua . By area, the Kaipara Harbour is one of the largest harbours in the world. It covers 947 square kilometres (366 sq mi) at high tide, with 409 square kilometres (158 sq mi) exposed as mudflats and sandflats at low tide. According to Māori tradition,
Tauhoa River - Misplaced Pages Continue
2226-516: The northern arm of the entrance ( Pouto Peninsula ). It was automated in 1947 and closed in the mid 1950s. The structure still exists and was renovated in 1982–84. In Māori mythology , the ocean-going canoe Māhuhu voyaged from Hawaiki to New Zealand and overturned on the northern side of the entrance. It was commanded by the chief Rongomai , who drowned. His body was eaten by araara (white trevally), and his descendants to this day will not eat that type of fish. The first European shipwreck
2279-577: The project from proceeding. He also sold the majority of his shareholdings to Todd Energy Ltd the same year. Management of the Kaipara Harbour does not have a central administration. Management is distributed among the Kaipara District Council, Auckland Council , Northland Regional Council , the Department of Conservation's Northland and Auckland section, and the Ministry of Fisheries. The Ministry of Fishing allocates quota for
2332-456: The recovery of biodiversity. Pouto Peninsula The Pouto Peninsula is a landform on the northern Kaipara Harbour in Northland , New Zealand. The Peninsula runs in the north west to south east direction and is approximately 55 km long. The width varies from about 5.4 km to about 14 km, with the widest part of the peninsula near its southern end. The Tasman Sea is to
2385-421: The rest of the world was by steamer. The road wasn't metalled until the 1940s. Pouto School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of 10 students as of August 2024. A school was first established at Pouto in 1878. There is also a primary school at Te Kōpuru. The leaflet 'Pouto – 105 years (1879–1984)' compiled in 1985 by local historian Logan Forrest to mark 104 years of education on
2438-416: The sand requirements for Auckland . The sand is used in the production of concrete and asphalt, and also in drainage systems and beach nourishment . A suction pump is usually used to extract the sand from the seabed. It is pumped into a barge as a sand and water slurry. As the barge loads, shells and other objects are screened out and the sea water drained back to the sea. The availability of sea sand within
2491-403: The shoreline are connected to the mainland by mudflats at low tide. The Kaipara Harbour is broad and mostly shallow, as it is formed from a system of drowned river valleys . The harbour shoreline is convoluted by the entry of many rivers and streams, and is about 800 kilometres (500 mi) long, being the drainage catchment for about 640,000 ha of land. The harbour entrance is a channel to
2544-509: The town of Dargaville was established. The stretch of water to Dargaville is broad and straight and provides an easy to navigate route into what were then kauri forests in the interior. Dargaville flourished and immigrants from Britain and Croatia were attracted to the area. Ships up to 3,000 tons carried timber and logs out along the Wairoa to defy the bar at the harbour entrance before continuing on, usually to another New Zealand port or across
2597-407: The west coast. The southern sandbanks at the entrance are constantly accumulating and releasing this sand. These treacherous sandbanks shift and change position, and are known locally as the graveyard . The graveyard is responsible for more shipwrecks than any other place in New Zealand, and has claimed at least 43 vessels—some say as many as 110. For this reason, a lighthouse was built in 1884 on
2650-416: The west, and the Kaipara Harbour is to the south. The Wairoa River and Kaipara Harbour are to the east. Dargaville and State Highway 12 lie directly to the north east of the peninsula. The mouth of the Kaipara Harbour separates the peninsula from the smaller Te Korowai-o-Te-Tonga Peninsula to the south. The most substantial settlement on the peninsula is Te Kōpuru . The locality of Pouto, originally
2703-458: Was 11.1, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 53.4% had no religion, 33.5% were Christian, 3.3% had Māori religious beliefs , 0.2% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.5% were Buddhist and 1.0% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 282 (9.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 801 (27.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income
SECTION 50
#17327901833132756-583: Was renovated in 1982–84. Gum-diggers operated on the peninsula from the 1870s and lasting into the 1930s, although kauri trees no longer grew there. Dairy farming was established in the early 20th century. Sand from Pouto was used to build dams in the Waitākere Ranges , and was also barged around the Kaipara Harbour. The southern part of the peninsula was slow to be developed, with the road only reaching to Taingaehe in 1930, and extending another 35 km to Pouto itself in 1931. Until then, contact with
2809-466: Was the Aurora , a 550-ton barque, in 1840, and the most recent was the yacht Aosky in 1994. Today, the remains of wrecks still become visible under certain tidal and sand conditions. The Kaipara is rarely used today for shipping, and no large settlements lie close to its shores, although many small communities lie along its coastline. The Kaipara Harbour is a drowned river valley system, which first formed 2-3 million years ago as an open bay, becoming
#312687