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Aotea Harbour

Coordinates:37°58′29″S174°50′23″E/ 37.97463°S 174.83980°E/-37.97463; 174.83980
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Aotea Harbour
Photograph of Aotea Harbour
Aotea Harbour and Taranaki (150km away faint towards right) from Houchens Rd, Te Mata
Aotea Harbour is located in North Island
Aotea Harbour
Aotea Harbour
Coordinates:37°58′29″S174°50′23″E/ 37.97463°S 174.83980°E/-37.97463; 174.83980
CountryNew Zealand
RegionWaikatoregion
DistrictsWaikato District
Otorohanga District
Population
• Total1,896 (2,013)
River sourcesPakoka River
Ocean/sea sourcesTasman Sea
Basin countriesNew Zealand
Max. length6 km (3.7 mi)
Max. width6 km (3.7 mi)
Surface area31.9 km2 (12.3 sq mi)
View from Phillips Rd towardMount Pirongia.

Aotea Harbour(Māori:Aotea Moana) is a settlement and smallest of three large natural inlets in theTasman Seacoast of theWaikatoregion of New Zealand'sNorth Island.[1]It is located betweenRaglan Harbourto the north andKawhia Harbourto the south, 30 kilometres southwest ofHamilton.

Looking southwest from Phillips Rd

Geography[edit]

Aotea Harbour is adrowned valleysystem following the post glacial Aranuian sea level rise of over 100m in the last 14,000 years, but its level may also be influenced by the Makomako and Te Maari faults.[2]It has a high-tide area of 32 km2(12 sq mi) and a low-tide area of 6 km2(2.3 sq mi).[3]

Most higher ground around the harbour is formed fromJurassiceragraywackestone, while the Aotea Harbour north head were formed fromQuaternarymarine deposits,wind blownnorth-east from the Tasman Sea.[4]

54% of the area around the harbour is in sheep and beef grazing. Since 1850 native forest cover has declined from 98% to 28%, about 18% managed by theDepartment of Conservation.[1]

Waireinga/Bridal Veil Fallsis located onPakoka River,andLake Disappearis on Pakihi Stream, both of which flow into Aotea Harbour.

Wildlife[edit]

Most of the land surrounding the Aotea Harbour is grassland with occasionalpōhutukawatrees; however, archaeological charcoal evidence shows the presence of sometawa,rimuandkanukatrees, alongsideHebeandCoprosmashrubs.[4]In the present day, some common plants found around the harbour areCotula coronopifolia,Sarcocornia quinqueflora,Avicennia marina,Apodasmia similis,Selliera radicans,Plagianthus divaricatus,Paspalum vaginatum,Samolus repens,Juncus kraussii,Zostera novazelandica,Austrostipa stipoides,Isolepis cernua,Spartina anglica,Schoenoplectus pungens,Baumea juncea,Cordyline australis,Olearia solandri,Dacrycarpus dacrydioides,Leptospermum scoparium,Bolboschoenus fluviatilis,Coprosma propinqua,Cortaderia selloana,Cortaderia jubataandTypha orientalis.[5]

Birds recorded in the harbour includewhite faced heron,South Island oyster catcher,godwit,pied stilt,black backed gull,red billed gull,swan,Canada goose,spur-winged plover,New Zealand dotterel,Royal spoonbill,kingfisher,pied shag,fernbird,paradise duck,[5]Caspian tern,white-fronted ternandgannet.[6]

The commonest fish species in the harbour areanchovy,flounderandyellow-eyed mullet.[6]Shellfish species found in the harbour includePipiandcockles.[4]

Orca,bottlenoseandcommon dolphinoccasionally enter the harbour.[6]

History[edit]

According to traditional history, the harbour is the final landing place for theAoteawaka.[4]Migrants from the Aotea waka are said to have broughtkarakatrees to the area when they settled.[7]People aboard the 'Tainuiwaka settled around the Aotea Harbour,Kawhia Harbourand Whaingaroa Harbour (Raglan Harbour) in approximately 1350.[4]Over 100Māoriarchaeological sites are found around the harbour, dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.[4]Many found on the Aotea Harbour north head, such as KoreromaiwahoPaa,were covered withAeolian sand,blown due to the prevailing south-westerly wind.[4]The people who settled around Aotea Harbour traditionally cultivatedkumara,while collectingtuatuafrom the Tasman Sea, andpipiandcocklesfrom the harbour.[4]The harbour was the site of a seven generational war betweenNgāti MāhangaandNgāti Tū-irirangi.[8]

By the early 1800s, the Aotea Harbour area had been settled by Tainui iwi including Ngāti Māhanga,Ngāti Te Wehi,Ngāti Mahuta,Ngāti KoataandNgāti Toa.[4][8]Conflict between Tainui iwi led byPōtatau Te Wherowheroand Ngāti Toa, led to Ngāti Toa settlingKapiti Islandand theKāpiti Coastin the 1820s, while their allies, the Ngāti Koata, settled around the northern shore of the South Island (in theTasman,NelsonandMarlboroughregions).[4]In the 1880s described as the north-western edge of theTe Rohe Pōtae(King Country lands).[9]

Marae[edit]

SeveralWaikato Tainuimaraeare located around Aotea Harbour. Te Tihi o Moerangi Marae and meeting house are affiliated withNgāti MahutaandNgāti Te Weehi.Mōtakotako Marae and Te Ōhākī a Mahuta meeting house are affiliated withNgāti Mahuta,Ngāti Te WeehiandTainui Hapū.Te Papatapu or Te Wehi Marae and Pare Whakarukuruku meeting house are affiliated withNgāti MahutaandNgāti Te Weehi.[10][11]

Demographics[edit]

Themeshblocksaround the edge of the harbour had these census results -[12]

Spoonbillscan often be seen feeding in the channels between the mud flats
Year Population Households Median age Median income
992702Lake Parangi
2001 45 15 22.2 11,700
2006 33 12 20 20,800
2013 33 15 49.7 17,500
0992701 Aotea village
2001 51 24 65.5 12,500
2006 36 15 56 16,300
2013 42 24 62.2 21,300
992900 Okapu
2001 51 24 46.2 15,800
2006 51 18 35 17,500
2013 51 18 49.2 15,300
0862100 Makomako
2001 36 12 13.7 12,500
2006 24 9 38 12,500
2013 24 9 45.2 20,800
862000 Te Papatapu
2001 57 21 30.2 13,800
2006 54 21 36 25,800
2013 48 18 42.8 23,300
861800 Makaka
2001 57 15 37.5 12,500
2006 69 21 34 15,400
2013 60 24 41.5 20,800
Total harbour edge meshblocks national median $
2001 297 111 18,500
2006 267 96 24,100
2013 258 108 27,900

The population was once much larger. For example, about 200 lived at Makaka in 1880.[13]

Roads[edit]

The harbour has few roads giving access to it. Aotea village and Okapu have a road linked toSH31,near Kawhia. Agravel roadlinks SH31 to Makomako. Just north of Makomako, at Maari Stream, two roads link to Te Mata; Te Papatapu Rd follows the edge of the harbour for over 2 km (1.2 mi). Kawhia Rd runs east via Lake Disappear and Waireinga/Bridal Veil Falls. Phillips Rd branches from Te Papatapu Rd, giving access to some areas north of the harbour.[14]

The beaches were initially a main route and were linked by boat across the harbour entrance.[15]

About 1880 Te Papatapu Rd was built from Te Mata, but from Te Papatapu the route was across the harbour at low tide.[16]

The bridges over the Maari and Makomako streams were built about 1918, though the road linking Kawhia and Te Mata was not usable until about 1926. They were replaced by concrete bridges in 1970.[17]

When Makomako School was built in 1925, timber and other supplies were taken by road to Pakoka landing, but then rafted across the harbour and up the stream to a point near the school.[17]

The roads weremetalledin the 1930s.[18]

From 1938 to 1952public buses linked Kawhia and Raglan.

Education[edit]

Makomako School was just above the junction of Makomako Road and the Te Mata-Kawhia Road.[19]It was open from 26 October 1925 (with an initial roll of 31 girls and 16 boys)[17]to 1981,[20]or 1983.[21]Makomako and the area north of it are now in the catchment area forTe MataSchool,[22]though the school buses only reach to Te Papatapu Road.[23]

From 1899 to 1904 there was a school atRaoraokauere mission station.

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 10 February 2013.Retrieved22 January2013.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^Geology of the Raglan-Kawhia Area: Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences (N.Z.), Barry Clayton Waterhouse, P. J. White 1994ISBN0-478-08837-X
  3. ^"Waikato Regional Council Technical Report 2016/19 - Mapping residence times in west coast estuaries of the Waikato region"(PDF).2016. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 17 September 2016.
  4. ^abcdefghijFox, Aileen;Cassels, Richard (1983)."Excavations at Aotea, Waikato, 1972–75".Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum.20:65–106.ISSN0067-0464.JSTOR42906516.WikidataQ58677531.
  5. ^abGraeme, Meg (2005)."Estuarine Vegetation Survey - Aotea Harbour"(PDF).Waikato Regional Council.
  6. ^abcS. White (May 2018)."Aotea Supplementary Ecology Report"(PDF).Waikato Regional Council.
  7. ^Leach, H., & Stowe, C. (2005). Oceanic arboriculture at the margins—the case of the karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) in Aotearoa.The Journal of the Polynesian Society,114(1), 7-27.
  8. ^abCollins, Adelaide; Turner, Kaye; Te Huia, Miromiro Kelly-Hepi (December 1996)."Te Kurutao a Maahanga Te Pū o te Tao Te Pū Kotahitanga Oral and Traditional History Volume of Ngāti Maahanga"(PDF).New Zealand Government.Retrieved15 March2021.
  9. ^Marr, Cathy (December 1996)."The Alientation of Maori Land in the Rohe Potae, 1840-1920"(PDF).New Zealand Government.Retrieved15 March2021.
  10. ^"Te Kāhui Māngai directory".tkm.govt.nz.Te Puni Kōkiri.
  11. ^"Māori Maps".maorimaps.com.Te Potiki National Trust.
  12. ^"2013 Census map – QuickStats about a place".archive.stats.govt.nz.Archived fromthe originalon 3 April 2018.Retrieved5 November2018.
  13. ^"Waikato Times RAGLAN AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. II. A RIDE TO RUAPUKE".paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.28 February 1880.Retrieved22 February2019.
  14. ^"Aotea Harbour, Waikato".NZ Topo Map.Retrieved22 February2019.
  15. ^"Journal of a Walk with the Bishop of New Zealand, from Auckland to Taranaki, by C. J. Abraham (1856)".anglicanhistory.org.Retrieved22 February2019.
  16. ^Trolove, F J (1970).Ruapuke.
  17. ^abcVernon, Bob.Aotea.
  18. ^"PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT (BY THE HON. J. BITCHENER, MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS)".paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.1 January 1935.Retrieved22 February2019.
  19. ^"One inch map Sheet N 64".www.mapspast.org.nz.1947.Retrieved21 February2019.
  20. ^Christoffel, Dr Paul (February 2011)."The Provision of Education Services to Maori in Te Rohe Potae, 1840-2010"(PDF).Waitangi Tribunal.
  21. ^"Raglan Chronicle".Issuu.Retrieved21 February2019.
  22. ^"Enrolment".Te Mata School.Retrieved21 February2019.
  23. ^"Buses".Te Mata School.Retrieved21 February2019.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aotea_Harbour&oldid=1228782104"