Manukau Harbour

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Manukau Harbour
2022-06-12 Manukau Harbour aerial view (cropped).jpg
Aerial view of the Manukau Harbour
Location Auckland Region, New Zealand
Coordinates 37°00′S174°40′E / 37.000°S 174.667°E / -37.000; 174.667 (Manukau Harbour)
River sources Big Muddy Creek, Harania Creek, Little Muddy Creek, Pūkaki Creek, Tahekeroa River, Taihiki River, Waiuku River
Ocean/sea sources Tasman Sea
Basin  countries New Zealand
Islands Ngarango Otainui Island, Pararekau Island, Paratutae Island, Puketutu Island, Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock, Wiroa Island
Sections/sub-basins Māngere Inlet, Pahurehure Inet, Waiuku Inlet
Settlements Little Huia, Huia, Cornwallis, Parau, Auckland, Kingseat, Clarks Beach, Glenbrook, Waiuku, Āwhitu
Manukau Harbour

The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. [1] It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea.

Contents

Geography

The Manukau Harbour Heads in 1960. The area in the foreground has since naturally filled with sand past the rock to the right of the photo. Manukau Harbour Heads 1960.jpg
The Manukau Harbour Heads in 1960. The area in the foreground has since naturally filled with sand past the rock to the right of the photo.

The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burnett Head" / "Ohaka Head") located at the southern end of the Waitākere Ranges and South Head at the end of the Āwhitu Peninsula reaching up from close to the mouth of the Waikato River. The mouth is only 1800 metres wide, but after a nine kilometre channel it opens up into a roughly square basin 20 kilometres in width. The harbour has a water surface area of 394 square kilometres. There is a tidal variation of up to 4 metres, a very substantial change, especially since the harbour, being silted up with almost 10 million years of sedimentation, is rather shallow itself. [2]

Because of the large harbour area and narrow mouth between the Manukau Heads, tidal flow is rapid and a bar at the mouth makes navigating in or out of the harbour dangerous. New Zealand's most tragic shipwreck occurred on the bar in 1863 when HMS Orpheus ran aground in clear weather with a loss of 189 lives. For this reason, along with the harbour's shallowness, it is not Auckland's favoured port, and, with only one short wharf, the facilities at Onehunga are tiny compared to the other Ports of Auckland facilities on the Waitematā Harbour along the northeast of the isthmus.

The harbour has three main arms. The Māngere Inlet at the northeast lies close to Auckland's central city area, with the inner suburbs of Onehunga and Te Papapa situated close to its northern shore. The Ōtāhuhu and Māngere urban areas lie south of this arm, which is crossed by the Māngere Bridge. In the southeast is the Papakura Channel, which extends into the urban area of Papakura. In the southwest a further inlet known as the Waiuku River reaches south to the town of Waiuku. The harbour reaches into Māngere Lagoon, which occupies a volcanic crater. Auckland Airport is located close to the harbour's eastern shore.

Geology

The Manukau Harbour is a drowned river valley system, which formed between 3 and 5 million years ago when tectonic forces between the Pacific Plate and Australian Plate uplifted the Waitākere Ranges and subsided the Manukau Harbour. It began as an open bay, eventually forming as a sheltered harbour as elongated sand dune barriers formed at the harbour's mouth. [3] 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. [3]

Names and etymology

There are various traditions associated with the naming of the harbour. [4] A Tainui tradition involves the crew of the Tainui . As they crossed Te Tō Waka (the portage at Ōtāhuhu between the Manukau Harbour and the Tāmaki River), the crew believed they heard voices of people on the other side. When they reached the harbour, they found that this was only birds ("Manu kau"). [4]

Another Tainui tradition involves Hoturoa, the captain of the Tainui waka. This tradition involves the naming of the Manukau Heads opening and sandbars, which is known as Te Manuka-o-Hotunui or Te Manukanuka-o-Hotunui, describing the anxiety Hoturoa felt when attempting to navigate this passage. [4] [5] The name, originally used for just the mouth of the harbour, became used for the entire harbour over time. [5]

Other traditions hold that it is a corruption of mānuka, being a descriptive name for the number of mānuka shrubs growing around the harbour, while another asserts that Manukau is the name of a chief who died in the waters of the harbour. [4]

Another traditional name for the harbour is Nga-tai-o-Rakataura, referring to Rakatāura / Hape, the tohunga of the Tainui. [5] During the early colonial era of Auckland, an attempt was made to rename the harbour Symonds Harbour, after the late William Cornwallis Symonds, who died in 1841, battling a storm in the harbour.

History

The harbour was an important historical waterway for Māori. It had several portages to the Pacific Ocean and to the Waikato River, and various villages and (hill forts) clustered around it. Snapper, flounder, mullet, scallops, cockles and pipi provided food in plentiful amounts. [6] In Te Kawerau ā Maki tradition, the taniwha Paikea guards the Manukau Harbour and Waitākere Ranges coastline. [7]

Cornwallis, on the Karangahape Peninsula, was the first site for the future city of Auckland. However, because of fraudulent land sales and rugged conditions, the settlement was mostly abandoned in the 1840s. [8] The surrounding bush clad hills had vast amounts of kauri removed for milling and shipped from a wharf on Paratutai to either the other end of the harbour at Onehunga for use in house building in the new city of Auckland, or along the coast to other New Zealand settlements. The last mills were abandoned in the early 1920s.[ citation needed ]

European settlement of the area was thus almost often an outgrowth of the Waitematā Harbour-centred settlement, as these settlers spread south and west through the isthmus and reached the Manukau Harbour. One of the few separate earlier European settlements was Onehunga, from where some raiding of enemy settlements occurred during the New Zealand wars, and which later became a landing point for kauri and other products landed by ship and canoe from the south, the shipping route being shorter than the one along the east coast to the Waitematā Harbour. [9] However, the combination of the difficult entry into the harbour, which limited ships to about 1,000 tons maximum, [9] and the extension of the railway to Onehunga in 1873 made naval traffic on the harbour less important again, though the Port of Onehunga can trace its origins to this time. [10]

Construction of a canal between the Manukau and the Waitemata was considered in the early 1900s, and the Auckland and Manukau Canal Act 1908 was passed to allow authorities to take privately owned land for this purpose. However, no serious work (or land take) was undertaken. The act was reported as technically still being in force as of 2008, [11] but was repealed on 1 November 2010. [12] A 2,700 ft (0.82 km) canal reserve, 2 ch (40 m) wide, [13] remains in place. [14]

Recreation

The harbour is popular for fishing, though entry to the water is difficult with few all-tide boat ramps; often local beaches are used. The harbour also houses five active sailing clubs, three on the southern side, one near Māngere Bridge, and one on the northern side. Since 1988, there has been an annual interclub competition, hosted by each club in rotation.

Ecological threats

Despite all that is precious about the Manukau, it is under ongoing threat from constant development and growth, with the pollution and damage that brings. Currently, according to the State of Auckland Marine Report Card, the harbour has a D-rating overall, based on water quality, contaminants and sediment, and ecology.

Careful and integrated management of land-based activities, such as development through good land-use practices, and commitment to a programme of integrated management is required to reverse this situation and secure a healthy, productive and sustainable resource for everybody now and for future generations.

In response to concern about the deteriorating state of the Manukau Harbour and the urgent need for a collaborative response to improve its condition, the Manukau Harbour Forum was created in November 2010 to advocate for the restoration of Manukau Harbour. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waiuku</span> Town in Auckland Region, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Auckland</span> Region of Auckland, New Zealand

South Auckland is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki Māori since at least the 14th century, and has important archaeological sites, such as the Ōtuataua stonefield gardens at Ihumātao, and Māngere Mountain, a former pā site important to Waiohua tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whau River</span> River in Auckland, New Zealand

The Whau River is an estuarial arm of the southwestern Waitemata Harbour within the Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It flows north for 5.7 kilometres (3.5 mi) from its origin at the confluence of the Avondale Stream and Whau Stream to its mouth between the Te Atatū Peninsula and the long, thin Rosebank Peninsula in Avondale. It is 800 metres (2,600 ft) at its widest and 400 metres (1,300 ft) wide at its mouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māngere</span> Suburb in Auckland, New Zealand

Māngere is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau City Centre and 15 kilometres south of the Auckland city centre. It is the location of Auckland Airport, which lies close to the harbour's edge to the south of the suburb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māngere Bridge (suburb)</span> Suburb of Auckland in New Zealand

Māngere Bridge is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, under the local governance of the Auckland Council. Surrounded by the Manukau Harbour, the area is the most north-western suburb of South Auckland, and is connected to Onehunga in central Auckland by three bridges that cross the Māngere Inlet. Many features of the Auckland volcanic field are found in and around Māngere Bridge, including Māngere Mountain, a 106-metre-high (348 ft) feature in the centre of the suburb, and Māngere Lagoon, a volcanic tidal lagoon opposite Puketutu Island in the harbour. The suburb is also home to Ambury Regional Park, a working farm and nature sanctuary run by Auckland Council, that connects to the Kiwi Esplanade and Watercare Coastal walkways.

<i>Tainui</i> (canoe) Māori migration canoe

In Māori tradition, Tainui was one of the great ocean-going canoes in which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand approximately 800 years ago. It was commanded by the chief Hoturoa, who had decided to leave Hawaiki because over-population had led to famine and warfare. The ship first reached New Zealand at Whangaparāoa in the Bay of Plenty and then skirted around the north coast of the North Island, finally landing at Kawhia in the western Waikato. The crew of the Tainui were the ancestors of the iwi that form the Tainui confederation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auckland isthmus</span> Narrow landstrip in Auckland, New Zealand

The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland, including the CBD. The isthmus is located between two rias : the Waitematā Harbour to the north, which opens to the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana and Pacific Ocean, and the Manukau Harbour to the south, which opens to the Tasman Sea. The isthmus is the most southern section of the Northland Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Auckland</span> History of the city of Auckland, New Zealand

The human history of the Auckland metropolitan area stretches from early Māori settlers in the 14th century to the first European explorers in the late 18th century, over a short stretch as the official capital of (European-settled) New Zealand in the middle of the 19th century to its current position as the fastest-growing and commercially dominating metropolis of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Te Kawerau ā Maki</span> Māori iwi in New Zealand

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.

This is a timeline of the history of the city of Auckland in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Āwhitu Peninsula</span> Place in Auckland, New Zealand

The Āwhitu Peninsula is a long peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand, extending north from the mouth of the Waikato River to the entrance to Manukau Harbour.

According to Māori tradition, Hoturoa was the leader of the Tainui canoe, during the migration of the Māori people to New Zealand, around 1400. He is considered the founding ancestor of the Tainui confederation of tribes (iwi), who now inhabit the central North Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Te Waiohua</span> Māori iwi in New Zealand

Te Waiohua or Te Wai-o-Hua is a Māori iwi (tribe) confederation that thrived in the early 18th century. The iwi's rohe was primarily the central Tāmaki Makaurau area and the Māngere peninsula, until the 1740s when the paramount chief Kiwi Tāmaki was defeated by the Ngāti Whātua hapū Te Taoū. The descendants of the Waiohua confederation today include Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua, Te Ākitai Waiohua, Ngā Oho of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Tainui.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwallis, New Zealand</span> Coastal settlement in West Auckland, New Zealand

Cornwallis is a western coastal settlement of West Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand and forms part of the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park, bordering the Manukau Harbour. It is situated on the Karangahape Peninsula between the Kakamatua Inlet and Cornwallis Bay to the east. It was the site of the first European settlement in the Auckland Region, a timber and trading port that failed in the 1840s.

Kiwi Tāmaki was a Māori warrior and paramount chief of the Waiohua confederation in Tāmaki Makaurau. The third generation paramount chief of Waiohua, Kiwi Tāmaki consolidated and extended Waiohua power over Tāmaki Makaurau, making it one of the most prosperous and populated areas of Aotearoa. Kiwi Tāmaki's seat of power was at Maungakiekie, which was the most elaborate pā complex in Aotearoa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Auckland, New Zealand</span> Region of Auckland, New Zealand

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.

Rakataura, also known as Hape or Rakatāura, is a legendary Polynesian navigator and a progenitor of many Māori iwi. Born in Hawaiki, Rakataura was the senior tohunga (priest/navigator) who led the Tainui migratory canoe to New Zealand. Rakataura is associated with stories involving the Manukau Harbour, the Te Tō Waka and the Waikato. Many place names in Tāmaki Makaurau and the Waikato region reference Rakataura, or are described in oral traditions as being named by Rakataura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Muddy Creek (New Zealand)</span> River in the Auckland Region, New Zealand

The Little Muddy Creek is a river of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows south from its source in Titirangi, meets the tributaries Waituna Stream and Waiohua Creek which run through the suburbs of Waima and Woodlands Park, before reaching the Manukau Harbour.

Ngā Oho, also known as Ngā Ohomatakamokamo-o-Ohomairangi, is the name of a historical iwi (tribe) of Māori who settled in the Auckland Region. In the 17th century, Ngā Oho and two other tribes of shared heritage, Ngā Riki and Ngā Iwi, formed the Waiohua confederation of tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portages of New Zealand</span>

Portages in New Zealand, known in Māori as 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.

References

  1. Cromarty, P.; Scott, D.A., eds. (1995). A Directory of Wetlands in New Zealand (PDF). Wellington: Department of Conservation. p. 25. ISBN   0-478-01776-6.
  2. Manukau Harbour - Formation (from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2008-01-10.)
  3. 1 2 Hayward, Bruce (2009). "Land, Sea and Sky". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. pp. 13–14, 17–18. ISBN   9781869790080.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Diamond, John T.; Hayward, Bruce W. (1979). The Māori history and legends of the Waitākere Ranges. The Lodestar Press. p. 43. ISBN   9781877431210.
  5. 1 2 3 "Manukau Harbour". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  6. Manukau Harbour - Origin of the Name (from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2008-01-10.)
  7. Waitākere Ranges Local Board (October 2015). Local Area Plan: Te Henga (Bethells Beach) and the Waitākere River Valley. Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area (PDF). Auckland Council. ISBN   978-0-908320-17-2 . Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  8. Redman, Julie (2007). "Auckland's first settlement at Cornwallis 1835-1860". New Zealand Legacy. 19 (2): 15–18.
  9. 1 2 "Auckland: Soldiers of fortune". The New Zealand Herald . 26 August 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  10. Manukau Harbour - European Settlement (from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2008-01-10.)
  11. Andrew Koubaridis & Craig Borley (31 May 2008). "Weird old laws can still trap the unwary". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  12. Auckland and Manukau Canal Act 1908 No 24 (as at 01 November 2010), Local Act Contents – New Zealand Legislation
  13. "AtoJs Online — Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives — 1921 Session I-II — H-15a Auckland Canals and Inland Waterways Commission. (Report of the)". atojs.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  14. "Walking Access Mapping System". wams.org.nz. Geographic Business Solutions. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  15. "How Auckland Council works". Auckland Council. Retrieved 11 July 2018.