Little Shoal Bay is a bay of the Waitematā Harbour in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, separating

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

from Northcote. The Birkenhead and Northcote wharves are located at opposite sides of the bay.

Geography

Little Shoal Bay is located on the North Shore, separating

from Northcote, to the west of

Shoal Bay In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body o ...

. Halls Beach is found at Northcote in Little Shoal Bay. which is the location of Halls Beach. Le Roys Bush is an area of remnant native forest adjacent to Little Shoal Bay, which features an unnamed stream that flows into the bay.

History

The traditional

Tāmaki Māori Tāmaki Māori are Māori ''iwi'' and ''hapū'' (tribes and sub-tribes) who have a strong connection to Tāmaki Makaurau (the Auckland Region), and whose rohe was traditionally within the region. Among Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the M ...

name for Halls Beach is , meaning "Short Beach"; a name which also referred to Sulphur Beach. The upper reaches of the bay were called , referring to the mangroves that grew here. The southernmost shores of the bay were known as , referencing the

Little black cormorant The little black cormorant (''Phalacrocorax sulcirostris'') is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It is common in smaller rivers and lakes throughout most areas of Australia and northern New Zealand, where it is known as the little bl ...

(kawau) that would congregate here. The Little Shoal Bay area was used for fishing and gathering shellfish, and was the location of

kāinga A kāinga ( Southern Māori ''kaika'' or ''kaik'') is the traditional form of village habitation of pre-European Māori in New Zealand. It was unfortified or only lightly fortified, and over time became less important to the well-defended pā. D ...

, gardens, and a . was constructed at the Northcote headland to the south of Little Shoal Bay, was prized for its strategic location and view over the Waitematā Harbour, and protected fisheries and

kūmara The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young shoot ...

gardens of the nearby volcanic soil. In 1856, the Northcote Wharf was constructed at the mouth of Little Shoal Bay. In 1870, Peter Hall of the Winks and Hall cabinet makers settled at Little Shoal Bay. He became the namesake of Halls Beach. From the 1840s, European settlers developed brickworks along Shoal Bay, the earliest being at Stanley Bay Beach. This was followed by Phillip Callan's brickyard at Sulphur Beach in 1843. From 1848, a soap and candle factory was established on Sulphur Beach, and other early industries included timber milling and kauri gum digging. In 1878, Auckland Chemical Works was established at Northcote, on the beach next to the brickworks. The factory processed sulphur from

Moutohora Island Moutohora Island (previously known as Whale Island) ( mi, Moutohorā) is a small uninhabited island located off the Bay of Plenty coast of New Zealand's North Island, about north of the town of Whakatane. The island is a remnant of a complex ...

in the Bay of Plenty, but was unprofitable, as the amount of sulphur estimated to be on the island was overestimated. In 1902, the Birkenhead and Northcote Gas Company established a gasworks at Little Shoal Bay. By the 1920s, the gas works had become the biggest sole employer for the Northcote Borough, and in the 1950s the gasworks was shut down. Boatbuilder

Jim Young James Norman Young (born June 6, 1943) is a former professional American football and Canadian football player. Young played running back and wide receiver for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings for two seasons (1965–66), and the CFL's BC Lions f ...

established his first boatyard at Little Shoal Bay in Birkenhead in the 1940s. In 1959, the Auckland Harbour Bridge and

Auckland Northern Motorway The Auckland Northern Motorway (known locally as the Northern Motorway, and historically as the Auckland–Waiwera Motorway) in the Auckland Region of New Zealand links Central Auckland and Puhoi in the former Rodney District via the Hibisc ...

were opened in Auckland, crossing the Waitematā Harbour, to the south-east of Little Shoal Bay. In 1971, a seafood restaurant called Fisherman's Wharf was built by restaurateur Bob Sell, adjacent to Northcote wharf. While the restaurant closed two years later, the building is currently known as The Wharf, an events centre. The Little Shoal Bay area is home to recreational facilities, including a tennis court, petanque court, basketball hoop and boardwalk.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Kaipātiki Local Board Area Bays of Auckland Kaipātiki Local Board Area Northcote, Auckland North Shore, New Zealand Waitematā Harbour