The Waikato is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupō District, and parts of the Rotorua Lakes District. It is governed by the Waikato Regional Council.
The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for 425 kilometres (264 mi) through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It then drains Taupō at the lake's northeastern edge, creates the Huka Falls, and flows northwest through the Waikato Plains. It empties into the Tasman Sea south of Auckland, at Port Waikato. It gives its name to the Waikato region that surrounds the Waikato Plains. The present course of the river was largely formed about 17,000 years ago. Contributing factors were climate warming, forest being reestablished in the river headwaters and the deepening, rather than widening, of the existing river channel. The channel was gradually eroded as far up river as Piarere, leaving the old Hinuera channel through the Hinuera Gap high and dry. The remains of the old course are seen clearly at Hinuera, where the cliffs mark the ancient river edges. The Waikato's main tributary is the Waipā River, which converges with it at Ngāruawāhia.
Ngāruawāhia is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers, adjacent to the Hakarimata Range. Ngāruawāhia is in the Hamilton Urban Area, the fourth largest urban area in New Zealand. The location was once considered as a potential capital of New Zealand.
Waiuku is a rural town in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River, which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour, and lies on the isthmus of the Āwhitu Peninsula, which extends to the northeast. It is 40 kilometres southwest of Auckland city centre, and 12 kilometres north of the mouth of the Waikato River.
Tuakau is a town in the Waikato region at the foot of the Bombay Hills, formerly part of the Franklin District until 2010, when it became part of Waikato District in the North Island of New Zealand. The town serves to support local farming, and is the residence of many employees of New Zealand Steel at Glenbrook.
The Waihou River is located in the northern North Island of New Zealand. Its former name, Thames River, was bestowed by Captain James Cook in November 1769, when he explored 14 mi (23 km) of the river from the mouth. An older Māori name was "Wai Kahou Rounga". A 1947 Geographic Board enquiry ruled that the official name would be Waihou.
The Moehau Range is the northernmost range on the Coromandel Peninsula, extending from the settlement of Colville, New Zealand northwards to the tip of the peninsula. Mount Moehau is the highest point of the range, at 892m above sea level.
The Ōpārau River is a river of the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island in the area occupied by Ngāti Hikairo. It flows southwest from its sources in the Pirongia Forest Park, the highest being The Cone, and flows into the Kawhia Harbour, 5 kilometres (3 mi) east of Kawhia. The river has about 171 km (106 mi) of tributaries.
The Tapu River is a river of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. It flows west from the Coromandel Range, reaching the Firth of Thames at the settlement of Tapu, approximately halfway between Thames and Coromandel.
The Mangapiko Stream is mostly a low-lying peat stream that flows through the heart of the Waipa district, Waikato. The stream begins near the summit of Mt Maungatautari and then weaves westward through low-lying dairy farmland and eventually becomes the tributary of the Waipā River in Pirongia.
Lake Whangape is shallow, supertrophic, lateral and the second largest lake in the lower Waikato River basin in New Zealand. One source said the name translated to 'a large sheet of water', another that it was a chief's name.
The Mangatangi River, or Mangatangi Stream, originates on the eastern slopes of the Hunua Ranges in New Zealand and flows roughly southwards until it is joined by the Ruaotehuia Stream just north of State Highway 2 between Mangatāwhiri and Maramarua, where it becomes the Maramarua River. Mangatangi can be translated as manga tangi to stream of weeping, or as rippling stream, or babbling brook.
Lake Opuatia is a small lake in the much larger Opuatia wetland, which drains from the west into the Waikato River. It lies near the foot of a long valley drained by the Opuatia Stream.
Waerenga is the name of a hamlet, 11 km (6.8 mi) east of Te Kauwhata, which is part of a statistical area unit in the Waikato District.
Glen Murray is a rural community in the Waikato District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, on Highway 22, about 6 km (3.7 mi) up the Tikotiko Stream from Lake Whangape. In 2013 the population of meshblock 0846601, which includes Glen Murray, was 42. It has a garage and a War Memorial Hall, which opened in 1952. It is named after William Murray, who moved from Piako in 1885.
Hauturu is a village near the eastern shores of the Kawhia Harbour, in the Otorohanga District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.
Otaua is a rural settlement in the Waikato District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located south of Waiuku and west of Aka Aka, on the northern side of the Waikato River. The Otaua area includes the Waikato North Head on the northern side of the Waikato River mouth, opposite Port Waikato to the south.
The Awaroa River is a river in the Ōtorohanga District on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north from its source near Te Koraha through Hauturu to Kawhia Harbour. The river passes through both pasture and indigenous forest. Over half of the river is in forest.
Te Rore was in the 1850s an important transhipment point on New Zealand's Waipā River, between the agriculture of the Waikato basin and its Auckland market. That was ended in 1864 by the Invasion of the Waikato, when Te Rore was, for a few months, part of the supply route to four redoubts set up nearby. It is now a rural community in the Waipa District, 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Pirongia and roughly the same distance south of Ngāhinapōuri on State Highway 39.
Portages in New Zealand, known in Māori as Tō or Tōanga Waka, are locations where waka (canoes) could easily be transported overland. Portages were extremely important for early Māori, especially along the narrow Tāmaki isthmus of modern-day Auckland, as they served as crucial transportation and trade links between the east and west coasts. Portages can be found across New Zealand, especially in the narrow Northland and Auckland regions, and the rivers of the Waikato Region.
