Waikato is a local government 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 Rotorua District. It is governed by the Waikato Regional Council.
Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand. The 5.5 km (3.4 mi) wide island is a symmetrical shield volcano cone capped by central scoria cones, reaching a height of 260 m (850 ft). Rangitoto is the youngest and largest of the approximately 50 volcanoes of the Auckland volcanic field, having erupted in two phases about 1450 CE and 1500 CE and covering an area of 2,311 ha. It is separated from the mainland of Auckland's North Shore by the Rangitoto Channel. Since World War II, it has been linked by a causeway to the much older, non-volcanic Motutapu Island.
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2, and lies between, in anticlockwise order, the Auckland Region, the Hauraki Plains, the Coromandel Peninsula, and Great Barrier Island. Most of the gulf is part of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.
Moturoa / Rabbit Island is a small island that lies across the southernmost part of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, on the northern coast of New Zealand's South Island. The long narrow island runs east–west for 8 kilometres (5 mi), and covers 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi).
Cape Colville is the northernmost point of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. It lies 85 kilometres north of Thames, and 70 kilometres northeast of the city of Auckland, on the other side of the Hauraki Gulf. The small settlements of Port Jackson and Fletcher Bay lie immediately to the west and east respectively of the cape.
The Great South Road was the northern section of the earliest highway between Auckland and Wellington, in the North Island of New Zealand.
The Tāmaki River or Tāmaki Estuary is mostly an estuarial arm and harbour of the Hauraki Gulf, within the city of Auckland in New Zealand. It extends south for 15 kilometres (9 mi) from its mouth between the suburb of Saint Heliers and the long thin peninsula of Bucklands Beach, which reaches its end at Musick Point. The inlet extends past the suburbs of Glendowie, Wai o Taiki Bay, Point England, Glen Innes, Tāmaki, Panmure, and Ōtāhuhu to the west, and Bucklands Beach, Half Moon Bay, Farm Cove, Sunnyhills and Pakuranga to the east.
The Whangaparāoa Peninsula is a suburban area about 30–50 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. It had 33,390 residents in 2018, It stretches from Red Beach, where it connects to Kingsway, Orewa and Silverdale, and extends to Army Bay in the Hauraki Gulf. It is part of the Hibiscus Coast. The area is populated by residents who work on the peninsula, or commute from the area to other parts of the Hibiscus Coast, the North Shore, Rodney District, Auckland CBD and beyond for work. They travel by vehicle, or via the Gulf Harbour ferry at Gulf Harbour Marina, or the Hibiscus Coast Bus Station at Silverdale. There is one main road along its entire length, which is accessible from State Highway 1 via Hibiscus Coast Highway at Silverdale, or from Hibiscus Coast Highway at Orewa via Red Beach. It is popular as a tourist destination for catching a ferry to Tiri Tiri Matangi, and for visiting Shakespear Regional Park It has one open (Whangaparaoa Golf Club) and one closed golf club (Gulf Harbour Country Club), beaches, sporting and recreation facilities, a library, shops, businesses and public and private primary and secondary schools. The median age of the population is in the 30s-40's.
The Hunua Ranges is a mountain range and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city, in the Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand's North Island. The ranges cover some 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi) and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui.
Kawau Island is in the Hauraki Gulf, close to the north-eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. At its closest point it lies 1.4 km (0.87 mi) off the coast of the Northland Peninsula, just south of Tāwharanui Peninsula, and about 8 km (5.0 mi) by sea journey from Sandspit Wharf, and shelters Kawau Bay to the north-east of Warkworth. It is 40 km (25 mi) north of Auckland. Mansion House in the Kawau Island Historic Reserve is an important historic tourist attraction. Almost every property on the Island relies on direct access to the sea. There are only two short roads serving settlements at Schoolhouse Bay and South Cove, and most residents have private wharves for access to their front door steps.
Auckland City was a territorial authority with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Auckland Region, was also governed by Auckland Regional Council. Auckland City was disestablished as a local authority on 1 November 2010, when Auckland City Council was amalgamated with other councils of the Auckland Region into the new Auckland Council. At the time of its disestablishment, the city had a resident population of around 450,000.
Motukorea or Browns Island is a small New Zealand island, in the Hauraki Gulf north of Musick Point, one of the best preserved volcanoes in the Auckland volcanic field. The age of eruption is about 25,000 years ago, when the Tāmaki Estuary and the Waitemata Harbour were forested river valleys. Due to centuries of cultivation, little native bush remains except on the north-eastern cliffs, leaving the volcanic landforms easily visible. It exhibits the landforms from three styles of eruption. The island consists of one main scoria cone with a deep crater, a small remnant arc of the tuff ring forming the cliffs in the northeast, and the upper portions of lava flows. The area was dry land when the eruptions occurred, but much of the lava is now submerged beneath the sea.
The Okura River, also known as the Okura Estuary, is a river in the north of the Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. The river rises in the low hills to the south of Silverdale and flows into Karepiro Bay on the Hauraki Gulf. The river is extremely tidal with only a narrow channel being navigable by small craft at low tide. The area is popular for horse riding, riders wait till low tide and then ford the boating channel to ride the estuary and beaches on the northern side.
Tāmaki Makaurau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first formed for the 2002 election. The electorate covers the Auckland area and was first held by Labour's John Tamihere before going to Dr Pita Sharples of the Māori Party for three terms from 2005 to 2014. After Sharples' retirement, the electorate was won by Peeni Henare of the Labour Party in the 2014 election.
The Ōrewa River is a river of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows east to reach Whangaparāoa Bay just to the north of Whangaparaoa Peninsula. The town of Orewa is near the river's mouth.
The Auckland Region of New Zealand is built on a basement of greywacke rocks that form many of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf, the Hunua Ranges, and land south of Port Waikato. The Waitākere Ranges in the west are the remains of a large andesitic volcano, and Great Barrier Island was formed by the northern end of the Coromandel Volcanic Zone. The Auckland isthmus and North Shore are composed of Waitemata sandstone and mudstone, and portions of the Northland Allochthon extend as far south as Albany. Little Barrier Island was formed by a relatively isolated andesitic volcano, active around 1 to 3 million years ago.
The Noises are a collection of islands lying northeast of Rakino Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The largest and most forested islands are Ōtata and Motuhoropapa; Orarapa and Maria/Ruapuke are also significant. After a rat eradication campaign in the 1960s, Maria was the first New Zealand island to become predator-free. The lack of invasive predators, intact native forest, and large numbers of breeding seabirds give the Noises significant conservation value. There has however been a marked decline in marine biodiversity surrounding the islands from over-fishing.
Waharau Regional Park is a regional park situated in the Hauraki District and the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island, four kilometres north of Whakatīwai Regional Park. It is just south of the border with the Auckland Region, and is owned and operated by Auckland Council. It runs from the eastern side of the Hunua Ranges, where it adjoins Hunua Ranges Regional Park, down to the Firth of Thames coast.
The Waiwera River is a stream of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island, near the township of Waiwera.
