Cooks Beach (Pukaki) is a town on a three-kilometre white-sand beach on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand. To its north is Cooks Bay, and beyond that is Mercury Bay. To the east is the locality of Hahei and the tourist attraction of

Cathedral Cove A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominati ...

. Roads to the south connect to . On the northwest, Shakespeare Cliff is a scenic reserve with a lookout point.

History

The harbour is one of the earliest places settled by Māori, with Kupe landing on the shore in the fourteenth century. Te Arawa arrived later bringing a leader called Hei, resulting in the local iwi of Ngāti Hei. The bay was called Whanganui-o-hei, the great bay of Hei.

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

visited the area in November 1769, and chose the eastern end of Cooks Beach to set up his instruments to observe the transit of Mercury. He named the bay Mercury Bay. A granite monument later set up to honour him was washed into the sea by a storm and erosion in 2018, but replaced in time for the 250th anniversary the following year. In 1837,

Ranulph Dacre Ranulph Dacre (23 April 1797 – 27 June 1884) was a British master mariner and merchant active in Australia and New Zealand. Early life He was born to George and Julia Dacre at Marwell Hall, Hampshire, England on 23 April 1797. His father was ...

and Gordon Browne purchased almost all the land of Cooks Beach, which became known as Dacre's Grant. A timber mill and a flax mill were established, and up to 30 families settled to farm, collect kauri gum, and fish. Plans to subdivide the land in the 1920s were postponed due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

until after World War II. Farming moved into the hills, which had previously been unsuitable due to low phosphate levels, but aerial topdressing made the land economic.

Ferry Landing

About 2.5 km northwest of the centre of Cooks Beach is Ferry Landing, a smaller settlement on Whakapenui Point between Maramaratotara Bay and Whitianga Harbour. This was the site of a Ngāti Hei

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...

, which was sacked by Ngāi Te Rangi in the mid 18th century. Cook was impressed by the ruins when visited on 11 November 1769. A passenger ferry runs on a ten-minute schedule between Ferry Landing and Whitianga during the day. The ferry has operated since 1895.

Demographics

Cooks Beach-Ferry Landing statistical area covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Whitianga Ferry

Cooks Beach-Ferry Landing had a population of 459 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 111 people (31.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 144 people (45.7%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 189 households, comprising 219 males and 240 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.91 males per female. The median age was 59.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 54 people (11.8%) aged under 15 years, 45 (9.8%) aged 15 to 29, 198 (43.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 168 (36.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 95.4% European/ Pākehā, 5.9%

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 ...

, 2.6% Pacific peoples, 1.3%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 17.6, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 56.2% had no religion, 33.3% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and 3.9% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 81 (20.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 69 (17.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $27,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 45 people (11.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 123 (30.4%) people were employed full-time, 81 (20.0%) were part-time, and 6 (1.5%) were unemployed.

References

{{Thames-Coromandel District Thames-Coromandel District