| O'Neill Bay | |
|---|---|
 Kauwahaia Island at O'Neill Bay | |
  O'Neill Bay Location within the Auckland Region | |
| Location | Auckland Region, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 36°53′02″S174°26′06″E / 36.884°S 174.435°E |
| Ocean/sea sources | Tasman Sea |
| Islands | Kauwahaia 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.
O'Neill Bay is directly north of Te Henga / Bethells Beach, between Erangi Point to the south and Raetahinga Point to the north. [1] An island is found to the south of the bay, named Kauwahaia Island. [2] The Te Henga Walkway follows the ridge around the bay.
O'Neill Bay and the cliffs around Raetahinga Point are the remnants of a Miocene era volcanic crater complex. [3] The 100 metre thick sequence is composed of at least 11 thin andesite flows, interspersed with breccia, scoria and lapilli tuffs. [3]
The bay is within the traditional rohe of the Te Kawerau ā Maki iwi. The bay's name, Te Awakauwahaia, or Kauwahia for short, refers to the ancestress Erangi. [1] Erangi was a woman of high birth who lived at Te Ihumoana at Te Henga / Bethells Beach in approximately the 14th century. [4] After falling in love with a man at Puketōtara to the north of Te Henga, Erangi decided to evade the guarded walking paths to the hill, by swimming to O'Neill Bay, and eventually to Te Waharoa Point, with her child on her back. Many of the traditional place names north of Te Henga commemorate her feat of endurance. [4]
The bay is mentioned in a legend of Tikinui, of the Te Kawerau ā Maki people. The daughter of a chief from Piha, who fell in love with a warrior from Muriwai despite being betrothed to another chief, would come to the beach to meet her lover in secret. In order to hide their meetings, the warrior would bury himself in the sand, breathing through a reed, while the daughter sat on top of him, hiding him with her cloak. Eventually her father was suspicious of her actions, and discovered her lover by piercing the sand underneath her cloak with his spear. The Tikinui rock column at the north of the beach was where he was killed. [5]
During the early colonial era of Auckland, the bay was named O'Neill Bay, after one of the earliest settlers in the area. [1]
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 ".
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.
Lion Rock is a rocky headland located on Piha Beach in the Waitākere Ranges area of the Auckland Region, New Zealand.
Te Toiokawharu is a hill in the Waitākere Ranges of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. At 474-metres, it is the tallest peak of the Waitākere Ranges. The peak has a low prominence due to surrounding hills of similar sizes.
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.
Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock is an island at the mouth of the Manukau Harbour, at Whatipu in the Waitākere Ranges area.
Paratutae Island, also known as Paratūtai Island, is an island off New Zealand at the mouth of the Manukau Harbour, at Whatipu in the Waitākere Ranges area.
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.
Ruaotuwhenua is a hill in the Waitākere Ranges of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. At 440-metres, it is one of the tallest of the Waitākere Ranges, and the tallest of the eastern ranges adjacent to Auckland. The peak is the location of an air traffic radome, and a radio mast is located further down the slope of the hill in Waiatarua.
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.
Whites Beach is a small beach on the west coast of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located between Piha and Anawhata.