| Goldie Bush Scenic Reserve | |
|---|---|
 The Mokoroa Falls in the Goldie Bush Scenic Reserve | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 36°50′42″S174°28′05″E / 36.845°S 174.468°E |
| Area | 249 ha (620 acres) [1] |
The Goldie Bush Scenic Reserve, also known as Goldies Bush and Te Taiapa, is a forested area of West Auckland, New Zealand. Located south-east of Muriwai, the reserve is home to the Mokoroa Falls.
The Goldie Bush Scenic Reserve is a wooded area of West Auckland, south-east of Muriwai and north of the Waitākere Ranges. [2] The reserve forms much of the Mokoroa Stream valley catchment, which flows southwest towards the Waitākere River near Te Henga / Bethells Beach. Most of the reserve is located within the Waitākere Ranges local board area. The sections north-west of the Mokoroa Stream are a part of the Rodney local board area.
Much of the forest is dominated by kanuka and mamangi trees. [3]
The scenic reserve is within the traditional rohe of Te Kawerau ā Maki. [4] The area was known as Te Taiapa, referring to a fortified pā overlooking the Mokoroa Stream, known for being defended by wooden palisades (taiapa), and not by typical defensive ditches. [4] Another name used for the area is Te Patunga ō Te Mokoroa ("the place where Te Mokoroa was killed"), referring to the traditional story where the ancestor Taiaoroa killed Te Mokoroa, a taniwha who lived in the pool at the base of the Mokoroa Falls. [4]
The land was purchased by the mayor of Auckland, David Goldie, around the year 1900, and established a mill on the property. [3] The mill was later relocated closer to the falls, and after the Kauri Timber Company acquired cutting rights in 1920, and the Mokoroa River catchments were dammed, in order to transport logs to the Waitākere River and Te Henga / Bethells Beach, from which they were transported by tramway to the Waitakere railway station. [3] By the time of Goldie's death in 1926, almost no kauri remained on the property at all. [3] After his death, the property was gifted to the Auckland City Council, who developed the area into a scenic reserve. [3]
Since becoming a scenic reserve, kauri trees were re-established in the park. [5] Due to the effects of kauri dieback, the reserve was closed in 2018 in order to stop the spread of disease, [6] and as of 2022 remains closed, as work is completed to develop walking tracks to slow the spread of disease. [7] [8]
The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some 27,720 hectares of public and private land. The area, traditionally known to Māori as Te Wao Nui o Tiriwa, is of local, regional, and national significance. The Waitākere Ranges includes a chain of hills in the Auckland Region, generally running approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) from north to south, 25 km west of central Auckland. The ranges are part of the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park.
Karekare is a small coastal settlement in West Auckland, New Zealand, sandwiched between the Waitākere Ranges and a large black sand surf beach.
Anawhata is a beach on the coast of New Zealand west of Auckland.
Te Henga, or Bethells Beach, is a coastal community in West Auckland, New Zealand. The Māori name for the area, "Te Henga", is in reference to the long foredunes which run along the beach and look like the Henga or gunwale of an upturned waka hull. This name originally applied to a wide area of the lower Waitakere River valley, but during the early 1900s the area became popular with visiting European immigrants who began to refer to the area as "Bethells Beach" after the Bethell Family who live there and still own much of the area. In 1976 the New Zealand Geographic Board officially named the area "Te Henga ".
Waitākere Reservoir is a reservoir on the Waitakere River in the Waitākere Ranges, west of Auckland in New Zealand. The dam was completed in 1910 and is a concrete gravity dam with a slight curvature. It has a lake area of 25.1 hectares and a capacity of 1.76 million cubic metres. The dam is accessible from the Montana Heritage Trail, a bush hike in the region.
Kitekite Falls is a scenic 3-tiered waterfall near Auckland, New Zealand. The falls drop a total of 40 metres (130 ft). From the lookout on Kitekite track the falls appear even higher because there is white water running over rocks into a small pool from the upper swimming hole, then falling down into a large pool, then falling to a small pool before beginning an almost vertical descent in the final 3-tiers, making the total height closer to 80 metres (260 ft). They are located on the Glen Esk Stream near Piha Beach.
Te Kawerau ā Maki, Te Kawerau a Maki, or Te Kawerau-a-Maki is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Predominantly based in West Auckland, it had 251 registered adult members as of June 2017. The iwi holds land for a new marae and papakāinga at Te Henga that was returned in 2018; and land for a secondary marae at Te Onekiritea that was returned in 2015. it has no wharenui yet.
Lake Wainamu is a small lake near Te Henga in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is located south-west of Lake Kawaupaka.
The Waitākere River is a river of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north then west from its sources in the Waitākere Ranges, reaching the Tasman Sea at Te Henga / Bethells Beach, to the south of Muriwai Beach. The upper reaches of the river are dammed to form the Waitākere Reservoir. The Waitākere Falls, just below the dam, are 95 metres (312 ft) high and the third highest waterfall in the North Island.
Lake Kawaupaka, also known as Lake Kawaupaku, is a small lake near Te Henga in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. The lake is on private land, and is one of the few dune lakes in the region to be surrounded by native forest. It is located south-west of Lake Wainamu.
Kauri dieback is a forest dieback disease of the native kauri trees of New Zealand that is suspected to be caused by the oomycete Phytophthora agathidicida. Symptoms can include root rot and associated rot in a collar around the base of the tree, bleeding resin, yellowing and chlorosis of the leaves followed by extensive defoliation, and finally, death.
Swanson is an outlying suburb of West Auckland, New Zealand and is located west of Henderson, surrounded by the Waitākere Ranges. Developing as a service centre for the kauri logging and gumdigging trades in the 1880s along the trainline, the town developed as a rural centre and an early tourist destination for Aucklanders, who visited the Redwood Park on the banks of the Swanson Stream. In the 1940s, the park became a training centre for soldiers in World War II, and in 1970 hosted Redwood 70, the first modern music festival in New Zealand.
Mokoroa Falls is a waterfall located between Muriwai and the Waitākere Ranges in Auckland's west coast in New Zealand. It is located in the Goldie Bush Scenic Reserve.
West Auckland is one of the major geographical areas of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Much of the area is dominated by the Waitākere Ranges, the eastern slopes of the Miocene era Waitākere volcano which was upraised from the ocean floor, and now one of the largest regional parks in New Zealand. The metropolitan area of West Auckland developed between the Waitākere Ranges to the west and the upper reaches of the Waitematā Harbour to the east. It covers areas such as Glen Eden, Henderson, Massey and New Lynn.
The Big Muddy Creek is an estuarine tidal inlet of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows south from its tributary rivers, the Nihotupu Stream and the Island stream in the Waitākere Ranges which are dammed at the Lower Nihotupu Reservoir, towards the Manukau Harbour.
The Swanson Stream is a stream of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north-east from its source the Waitākere Ranges through rural West Auckland towards the suburb of Swanson, into the Huruhuru Creek which exits into Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek and the western the Waitematā Harbour. Since the mid-2000s, the stream has been forested with native flora.
The Kakamatua Inlet is an inlet of the Manukau Harbour of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island.
O'Neill Bay is a bay on the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located north of Te Henga / Bethells Beach.
Pukematekeo is a hill in the Waitākere Ranges of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located west of Henderson, and is the northernmost hill in the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park.
Arataki Visitor Centre is a tourism and education centre in West Auckland, New Zealand, often described as the gateway to the Waitākere Ranges. The centre provides information about the Waitākere Ranges, and organises educational events.