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Kumeū River
The Kumeu River drains the northern Waitākere Ranges near Auckland, New Zealand, running past the town of Kumeū before merging into the Kaipara River. Description The river begins on the northern slopes of Pukematekeo, the northernmost peak in the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park. It flows north to the townships of Waitākere and Taupaki. When the river reaches Kumeū and Huapai, it flows due west, meeting the Kaipara River north-east of Waimauku. The Waikoukou Stream and Ahukuramu Stream also meet the Kaipara River in the same location. The river has a number of tributaries, including the McEntee Stream, Mangatoetoe Stream and Pakinui Stream. History The stream is in the traditional rohe of Te Kawerau ā Maki. Historically the upper river catchment was dominated by a kahikatea forest, and was used for a number of purposes: to hunt kūkupa (kererū, or New Zealand wood pigeon) and harvest harakeke (New Zealand flax) and toetoe (''Austroderia'') for weaving. The rive ...
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Pukematekeo
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. Description The hill is a 336-metre peak in the Waitākere Ranges, and is the northern-most hill in the ranges. The hill is the source for two river systems: the Kumeū River, which flows north to meet the Kaipara River and eventually flows into the Kaipara Harbour, and the Cassel Stream, which flows eastwards to join the Swanson Stream, which flows into Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek and the Waitematā Harbour. The hill is accessible by Scenic Drive, and is a starting point for the Pukematekeo Track, a walking track linking the peak and the Waitākere Golf Club to the west. Geology Pukematekeo is the remnant of one of the eastern vents of the Waitākere Volcano, a Miocene era volcanic crater complex which was uplifted from the seafloor between 3 and 5 million years ...
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New Zealand Government
, background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ministries = 32 ministries and departments , responsible = House of Representatives , budget = 119.3 billion (2018–19) , address = The Beehive and other locations across Wellington , url = The New Zealand Government ( mi, Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa) is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifically to the collective ministry directing the executive. Based on the principle of responsible government, it operates within the framework that "the Queen reigns, but the government rules, so long as it has the support of the House of Representatives".Sir Kenneth Keith, qu ...
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Auckland Libraries
Auckland Libraries is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the largest public-library network in the Southern Hemisphere with 55 branches from Wellsford to Waiuku. Currently from March 2021, the region has a total of 56 branches. History In November 2010, Auckland's local councils merged to create the Auckland Council. As a result of this process, the seven public library systems within the region were combined to form Auckland Libraries. The following library networks were amalgamated, forming Auckland Libraries: * Auckland City Libraries * Bookinopolis (in the Franklin District) * Manukau Libraries * North Shore Libraries * Papakura Library ServicesThe Sir Edmund Hillary Library * Rodney Libraries * Waitakere Libraries The process of amalgamation In the years leading up to the merger of the library systems within Auckland, the separate library ...
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Taniwha
In Māori mythology, taniwha () are large supernatural beings that live in deep pools in rivers, dark caves, or in the sea, especially in places with dangerous currents or deceptive breakers (giant waves). They may be considered highly respected kaitiaki (protective guardians) of people and places, or in some traditions as dangerous, predatory beings, which for example would kidnap women to have as wives. Etymology and Pacific analogues Linguists have reconstructed the word ''taniwha'' to Proto-Oceanic *''tanifa'', with the meaning "shark species". In Tongan and Niuean, ''tenifa'' refers to a large dangerous shark, as does the Samoan ''tanifa''; the Tokelauan ''tanifa'' is a sea-monster that eats people. In most other Polynesian languages, the cognate words refer to sharks or simply fish. Some anthropologists have stated that the taniwha has "analogues that appear within other Polynesian cosmologies".A. Asbjørn Jøn,The Road and the Taniwha in ''Australian Folklore: A Yearly ...
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Waitematā Harbour
Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city by the shallower waters of the Manukau Harbour. With an area of , it connects the city's main port and the Auckland waterfront to the Hauraki Gulf and the Pacific Ocean. It is sheltered from Pacific storms by Auckland's North Shore, Rangitoto Island, and Waiheke Island. Etymology The oldest Māori name of the harbour was Te Whanga-nui o Toi (The Big Bay of Toi), named after Toi, an early Māori explorer. The name ''Waitematā'' means "Te Mata Waters", which according to some traditions refers to a mauri stone (a stone of Māori religious significance) called Te Mata, which was placed on Boat Rock (in the ha ...
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Kaipara Harbour
Kaipara Harbour is a large enclosed harbour estuary complex on the north western side of the North Island of New Zealand. The northern part of the harbour is administered by the Kaipara District and the southern part is administered by the Auckland Council. The local Māori tribe is Ngāti Whātua. By area, the Kaipara Harbour is one of the largest harbours in the world. It covers at high tide, with exposed as mudflats and sandflats at low tide.Heath, RA (1975) ''Stability of some New Zealand coastal inlets.'' New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 9 (4):449-57. According to Māori tradition, the name Kaipara had its origins back in the 15th century when the Arawa chief, Kahumatamomoe, travelled to the Kaipara to visit his nephew at Pouto. At a feast, he was so impressed with the cooked root of the para fern, that he gave the name Kai-para to the district. ''Kaipara'' comes from the Māori meaning "food", and meaning "king fern". Geography The harbo ...
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Portages Of New Zealand
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. A number of historic portages were considered for potential sites for canals during the colonial era and the early 1900s. Since the early 1990s, portage crossing events have been held on the Ōtāhuhu portage. Northland Region Mangapai portage The Mangapai portage connected the Kaipara Harbour in the west to the Whangārei Harbour in the east. The portage extended from the Wairoa River, overland through Tangiteroria to Maungakaramea, reaching the Whangārei Harbour along the Mangapai River. Bishop ...
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Austroderia
''Austroderia'' is a genus of five species of tall grasses native to New Zealand, commonly known as toetoe.Toetoe
hosted on the NZ Landcare research Maanaki Whenua website. Page accessed 20 November 2010.
The species are ''A. toetoe'', ''A. fulvida'', ''A. splendens'', ''A. richardii'' and ''A. turbaria''. They were recently reclassified in 2011 from the genus '''', although their distinctiveness had been recognized as early as 1853.Steudel, Ernst Gottlieb von 1853. Synopsis Pla ...
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Phormium Tenax
''Phormium tenax'' (called flax in New Zealand English; in Māori; New Zealand flax outside New Zealand; and New Zealand hemp in historical nautical contexts) is an evergreen perennial plant native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island that is an important fibre plant and a popular ornamental plant.Roger Holmes and Lance Walheim. 2005. ''California Home Landscaping'', Creative Homeowner Press The plant grows as a clump of long, straplike leaves, up to two metres long, from which arises a much taller flowering shoot, with dramatic yellow or red flowers. The fibre has been widely used since the arrival of Māori to New Zealand, originally in Māori traditional textiles and also in rope and sail making after the arrival of Europeans until at least WWII. It is an invasive species in some of the Pacific Islands and in Australia. The blades of the plant contain cucurbitacins, which are poisonous to some animals, and some of them are among the bitterest tastes to humans. Etymology The ...
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Kererū
The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'') or New Zealand pigeon is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white breast and iridescent green–blue plumage. Two subspecies have been recognised; the second—the Norfolk pigeon of Norfolk Island—became extinct in the early 20th century. Kererū pairs are monogamous, breeding over successive seasons and remaining together when not breeding. They construct nests with twigs in trees, with a single egg clutch. Found in a variety of habitats across the country, the kererū feeds mainly on fruits, as well as leaves, buds and flowers. Although widespread in both forest and urban habitats, its numbers have declined significantly since European colonisation and the arrival of invasive mammals such as rats, stoats and possums. However, the results of nationwide bird surveys indicate that there has been a sign ...
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Dacrycarpus Dacrydioides
''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m and a life span of 600 years. It was first described botanically by the French botanist Achille Richard in 1832 as ''Podocarpus'' ''dacrydioides'', and was given its current binomial name ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'' in 1969 by the American botanist David de Laubenfels. Analysis of DNA has confirmed its evolutionary relationship with other species in the genera ''Dacrycarpus'' and ''Dacrydium''. In traditional Māori culture, it is an important source of timber for the building of waka and making of tools, of food in the form of its berries, and of dye. When Europeans discovered it in the 18th century they found large remnant stands in both the North and South Islands, despite burning of forest by early Māori. Its use for timber and its damp fertile habitat, ideal for dairy ...
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Te Kawerau ā Maki
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. It had 251 registered adult members as of June 2017. Auckland Council gave it land for a marae at Te Henga (Bethells Beach) in 2018; it has no ''wharenui'' (meeting house) yet. History Te Kawerau ā Maki are the descendants of the ''rangatira'' (chief) Maki and his wife Rotu, who migrated with their family and followers from Kawhia to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) in the early 1600s. Te Kawerau trace their ancestry from a number of Māori migration canoes, particularly the Tainui, but also Aotea, Tokomaru, Kahuitara and Kurahaupō. Tainui ancestors including Hoturoa and the tohunga Rakataura (Hape) are particularly important in Te Kawerau whakapapa, as is the ancient turehu ancestor and tohunga Tiriwa. Maki and his people were related to a number of groups who had occupied the Auckland region since the fourteenth century, including the Tainui ''hapū'' ...
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