Aotea Harbour ( mi, Aotea Moana) is a settlement and smallest of three large natural inlets in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

coast of the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, 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, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. It is located between

Raglan Harbour Raglan is a small beachside town located 48 km west of Hamilton, New Zealand on State Highway 23. It is known for its surfing, and volcanic black sand beaches. History The Ngāti Māhanga iwi occupied the area around Raglan in the lat ...

to the north and

Kawhia Harbour Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwe ...

to the south, 30 kilometres southwest of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Geography

Aotea Harbour is a

drowned valley A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

system following the post glacial Aranuian sea level rise of over 100m in the last 14,000 years, but its level may also be influenced by the Makomako and Te Maari faults. It has a high-tide area of and a low-tide area of . Most higher ground around the harbour is formed from

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

era

graywacke Greywacke or graywacke (German ''grauwacke'', signifying a grey, earthy rock) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lit ...

stone, while the Aotea Harbour north head were formed from

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

marine deposits, wind blown north-east from the Tasman Sea. 54% of the area around the harbour is in sheep and beef grazing. Since 1850 native forest cover has declined from 98% to 28%, about 18% managed by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

. Waireinga/Bridal Veil Falls is located on

Pakoka River The Pakoka River is a river of the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows southwest from its source southeast of Raglan to reach the northeastern end of the Aotea Harbour. The catchment is made up of just over of waterways. ...

, and

Lake Disappear Lake Disappear is an intermittent volcanogenic lake (see also turlough and polje) situated in the North Island of New Zealand, just over 20 km from Raglan, 4 km beyond Bridal Veil waterfall. It has also been described as a solution ...

is on Pakihi Stream, both of which flow into Aotea Harbour.

Wildlife

Most of the land surrounding the Aotea Harbour is grassland with occasional

pōhutukawa ''Metrosideros excelsa'', commonly known as pōhutukawa ( mi, pōhutukawa), New Zealand Christmas tree, New Zealand Christmas bush, and iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display o ...

trees, however archaeological charcoal evidence shows the presence of some tawa,

rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...

and kanuka trees, alongside '' Hebe'' and ''

Coprosma ''Coprosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands. Description The name ''Copros ...

'' shrubs. In the present day, some common plants found around the harbour are ''

Cotula coronopifolia The small marsh flower ''Cotula coronopifolia'' bears the common names brass buttons, golden buttons, and buttonweed. The flower heads are bright yellow discoid heads that look like thick buttons. Individual plants spread stems along the ground ...

'', ''

Sarcocornia quinqueflora ''Salicornia quinqueflora'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Sarcocornia quinqueflora'', commonly known as beaded samphire, bead weed, beaded glasswort or glasswort, is a species of succulent halophytic coastal shrub. It occurs in wetter coastal ar ...

'', ''

Avicennia marina ''Avicennia marina'', commonly known as grey mangrove or white mangrove, is a species of mangrove tree classified in the plant family Acanthaceae (formerly in the Verbenaceae or Avicenniaceae). As with other mangroves, it occurs in the intertid ...

'', ''

Apodasmia similis ''Apodasmia similis'', also known as oioi or jointed wire rush, is a plant that is endemic to New Zealand. It is a coastal plant but is also found around peat bogs and hot springs. It flowers from October to December and bears fruit from Decemb ...

'', ''

Selliera radicans ''Selliera radicans'', commonly known as remuremu, swampweed or bonking grass, is a creeping, herbaceous plant species found in New Zealand, Australia and Chile. ''S. radicans'' can grow to a height of 20 cm and spread to 2 metres wide. The ...

'', ''

Plagianthus divaricatus ''Plagianthus divaricatus'' or saltmarsh ribbonwood is a plant that is endemic to New Zealand. The Māori name is makaka. ''Plagianthus divaricatus'' is an upright shrub with closely interwoven branches. The shrub is found in coastal environment ...

'', ''

Paspalum vaginatum ''Paspalum vaginatum'' is a species of grass known by many names, including seashore paspalum, biscuit grass, saltwater couch, silt grass, and swamp couch.Samolus repens ''Samolus repens'' is a species of water pimpernel native to Australia, New Zealand and near-by Pacific islands, and South America (South Chile), where it is common in temperate and subtropic coastlines. Common names include creeping brookweed a ...

'', ''

Juncus kraussii ''Juncus kraussii'' commonly known as salt marsh rush, sea rush, jointed rush, matting rush or dune slack rush, is of the monocot family Juncaceae and genus Juncus. It grows in salt marshes, estuarine and coastal areas. This species is ideal a ...

'', '' Zostera novazelandica, Austrostipa stipoides,

Isolepis cernua ''Isolepis cernua'' (basionym ''Scirpus cernuus'') is a species of flowering plant in the Cyperaceae, sedge family known by the common names low bulrush, slender club-rush, tufted clubrush, and fiberoptic grass. It is widespread, being native to ...

Spartina anglica ''Sporobolus anglicus'' (common cordgrass) is a species of cordgrass that originated in southern England in about 1870 and is a neonative species in Britain. It was reclassified as '' Sporobolus anglicus'' after a taxonomic revision in 2014,Pe ...

Schoenoplectus pungens ''Schoenoplectus pungens'' is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known as common threesquare, common three-square bulrush and sharp club-rush. It is a herbaceous emergent plant that is widespread across much of North and South Am ...

, Baumea juncea,

Cordyline australis ''Cordyline australis'', commonly known as the cabbage tree, tī kōuka or cabbage-palm, is a widely branched monocot tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to tall with a stout trunk and sword-like leaves, which are clustered at the tips of ...

Olearia solandri ''Olearia solandri'', commonly known as coastal daisy-bush or coastal tree daisy, is a coastal shrub of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmass ...

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 fir ...

Leptospermum scoparium ''Leptospermum scoparium'', commonly called mānuka, () mānuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree, or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands ...

'', ''

Bolboschoenus fluviatilis ''Bolboschoenus fluviatilis'', the river bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. Its range includes Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Canada, the United States, and northeastern Mexico. ''B. fluviatilis'' ...

'', ''

Coprosma propinqua ''Coprosma propinqua'' is a New Zealand plant of the genus ''Coprosma'' in the family Rubiaceae. Its Māori name (in common New Zealand usage) is ''mingimingi'', a name which is also applied to closely related species such as '' C. dumosa'', '' ...

'', ''

Cortaderia selloana ''Cortaderia selloana'' is a species of flowering plant in the Poaceae family. It is referred to by the common name pampas grass, and is native to southern South America, including the Pampas region after which it is named. Etymology ''Cortade ...

'', ''

Cortaderia jubata ''Cortaderia jubata'' is a species of grass known by several common names, including purple pampas grass and Andean pampas grass. It is similar to its more widespread relative, the pampas grass ''Cortaderia selloana'', but it can get quite a bit ...

'' and ''

Typha orientalis ''Typha orientalis'', commonly known as bulrush, cumbungi, or raupō, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus ''Typha''. It is native to Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, China and the ...

''. Birds recorded in the harbour include white faced heron, South Island oyster catcher,

godwit The godwits are a group of large, long-billed, long-legged and strongly migratory waders of the bird genus ''Limosa''. Their long bills allow them to probe deeply in the sand for aquatic worms and molluscs. In their winter range, they floc ...

pied stilt The pied stilt (''Himantopus leucocephalus''), also known as the white-headed stilt, is a shorebird in the family Recurvirostridae. It is widely distributed with a large total population size and apparently stable population trend, occurring in ...

, black backed gull, red billed gull,

swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

Canada goose The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

spur-winged plover The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover (''Vanellus spinosus'') is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is one of several species of wader supposed to be the "trochilus" bird said by Herodotus ...

New Zealand dotterel The New Zealand dotterel (''Charadrius obscurus'') is a species of shorebird found only in certain areas of New Zealand. It is also called the New Zealand plover or red-breasted dotterel, and its Māori names include , , and . The southern s ...

Royal spoonbill The royal spoonbill (''Platalea regia'') also known as the black-billed spoonbill, occurs in intertidal flats and shallows of fresh and saltwater wetlands in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. (In New Z ...

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

, pied shag,

fernbird The New Zealand fernbird or simply fernbird (''Poodytes punctatus'') is an insectivorous bird endemic to New Zealand. In the Māori language, it is named or . Taxonomy The New Zealand fernbird was described by the French zoologists Jean Quo ...

, paradise duck,

Caspian tern The Caspian tern (''Hydroprogne caspia'') is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...

white-fronted tern The white-fronted tern (''Sterna striata''), also known as tara, sea swallow, black-billed tern, kahawai bird, southern tern, or swallow tail, was first described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789. A medium-sized tern with an all-white body inclu ...

and

gannet Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies. Gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the Nor ...

. The commonest fish species in the harbour are

anchovy An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...

and

yellow-eyed mullet Yellow-eye mullet (''Aldrichetta forsteri''), also known as Coorong mullet (after the Coorong area of South Australia), conmuri, estuary mullet, Forster's mullet, freshwater mullet, pilch, pilchard, Victor Harbor mullet, yelloweye, yellow-eyed ...

. Shellfish species found in the harbour include Pipi and cockles.

Orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only Extant taxon, extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black ...

, bottlenose and

common dolphin The common dolphin (''Delphinus delphis'') is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, with ...

occasionally enter the harbour.

History

According to traditional history, the harbour is the final landing place for the '' Aotea'' waka. Migrants from the Aotea waka are said to have brought karaka trees to the area when they settled. People aboard the

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are oth ...

'' waka settled around the Aotea Harbour,

and Whaingaroa Harbour (

) in approximately 1350. Over 100

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

archaeological sites are found around the harbour, dating to the 15th and 16th centuries. Many found on the Aotea Harbour north head, such as Koreromaiwaho Paa, were covered with

Aeolian sand Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit materials ...

, blown due to the prevailing south-westerly wind. The people who settled around Aotea Harbour traditionally cultivated kumara, while collecting

tuatua ''Paphies subtriangulata'' is a species of edible bivalve clam known as tuatua in the Māori language, a member of the family Mesodesmatidae and endemic to New Zealand. It is found on all three of the main New Zealand islands, buried in fine clea ...

from the Tasman Sea, and pipi and cockles from the harbour. The harbour was the site of a seven generational war between

Ngāti Māhanga Ngāti Māhanga is a Māori iwi (tribe) that is part of the Waikato confederation of tribes (now called Tainui). The tribe's historical lands extended from Whaingaroa Harbour (Raglan Harbour) to the west bank of the Waikato River in the city of Ham ...

and Ngāti Tū-irirangi. By the early 1800s, the Aotea Harbour area had been settled by Tainui iwi including Ngāti Māhanga,

Ngāti Te Wehi Ngāti Te Wehi is a Māori iwi (tribe) based in Kawhia on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. According to the 1874 census, Ngati Te Wehi were registered as an iwi. They are the principle iwi of the Aotea Harbour iwi, with close ties an ...

Ngāti Mahuta Ngāti Mahuta is a sub-tribe (or hapū) of the Waikato tribe (or iwi) of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand. The territory (rohe) of Ngāti Mahuta is the Kawhia and Huntly areas of the Waikato region. History Ngāti Mahuta is descended f ...

Ngāti Koata Ngāti Koata or Ngāti Kōata is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, originating on the west coast of Waikato, but now mainly at the northern tip of South Island. Ngāti Koata whakapapa back to Koata who lived near Kāwhia in the 17th century. She had ...

and

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its ''rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston N ...

. Conflict between Tainui iwi led by

Pōtatau Te Wherowhero Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (died 25 June 1860) was a Māori warrior, leader of the Waikato iwi (confederation of tribes), the first Māori King and founder of the Te Wherowhero royal dynasty. He was first known just as ''Te Wherowhero'' and took the ...

and Ngāti Toa, led to Ngāti Toa settling

Kapiti Island Kapiti Island () is an island about off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand. It is long, running southwest/northeast, and roughly wide, being more or less rectangular in shape, and has an area of . Its name has been used s ...

and the

Kapiti Coast The Kapiti Coast District is a local government district of the Wellington Region in the lower North Island of New Zealand, 50 km north of Wellington City. The district is named after Kapiti Island, a prominent island offshore. The pop ...

in the 1820s, while their allies, the Ngāti Koata, settled around the northern shore of the South Island (in the Tasman,

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

regions). In the 1880s described as the north-western edge of the Te Rohe Pōtae (King Country lands).

Marae

Several

Waikato Tainui Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand o ...

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

are located around Aotea Harbour. Te Tihi o Moerangi Marae and meeting house are affiliated with

and Ngāti Te Weehi. Mōtakotako Marae and Te Ōhākī a Mahuta meeting house are affiliated with

, Ngāti Te Weehi and

Tainui Hapū Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand o ...

. Te Papatapu or Te Wehi Marae and Pare Whakarukuruku meeting house are affiliated with

and Ngāti Te Weehi.

Demographics

The

meshblock Mesh blocks or meshblocks are a small geographic unit used in the census of several countries. New Zealand New Zealand's countrywide meshblock framework was first set up in 1976, although the term dates back to at least the 1916 census. The me ...

s around the edge of the harbour had these census results - Spoonbills_at_Aotea_Harbour

The population was once much larger. For example, about 200 lived at Makaka in 1880.

Roads

The harbour has few roads giving access to it. Aotea village and Okapu have a road linked to SH31, near Kawhia. A

gravel road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unite ...

links SH31 to Makomako. Just north of Makomako, at Maari Stream, two roads link to Te Mata; Te Papatapu Rd follows the edge of the harbour for over . Kawhia Rd runs east via Lake Disappear and Waireinga/Bridal Veil Falls. Phillips Rd branches from Te Papatapu Rd, giving access to some areas north of the harbour. The beaches were initially a main route and were linked by boat across the harbour entrance. About 1880 Te Papatapu Rd was built from Te Mata, but from Te Papatapu the route was across the harbour at low tide. The bridges over the Maari and Makomako streams were built about 1918, though the road linking Kawhia and Te Mata was not usable until about 1926. They were replaced by concrete bridges in 1970. When Makomako School was built in 1925, timber and other supplies were taken by road to Pakoka landing, but then rafted across the harbour and up the stream to a point near the school. The roads were

metalled A road surface (British English), or pavement (American English), is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, hoggin, cobble ...

in the 1930s. From 1938 to 1952 public buses linked Kawhia and Raglan.

Education

Makomako School was just above the junction of Makomako Road and the Te Mata-Kawhia Road. It was open from 26 October 1925 (with an initial roll of 31 girls and 16 boys) to 1981, or 1983. Makomako and the area north of it are now in the catchment area for Te Mata School, though the school buses only reach to Te Papatapu Road. From 1899 to 1904 there was a school at Raoraokauere mission station.

References

External links

history, geology, flora, fauna, environment and planning

1:50,000 map

* 1925 1:63,360 geology maps - ttp://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/content-aggregator/getIEs?system=ilsdb&id=296686 northan
south
(to enlarge follow the 'original record' link)
Landcare Research map of original vegetation, etc.

vegetation around the edge of the harbour

archaeology map

1854 direction for ships finding the harbour

water quality

toxic elements are low

{{Authority control Waikato District Ōtorohanga District Populated places in Waikato Ports and harbours of New Zealand