Mahurangi Harbour is a natural

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is located on the north-eastern coast of the

Auckland Region Auckland () is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland Metropolitan Area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Containing ...

near the town of Warkworth, and empties into the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,drowned river 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 c ...

. Approximately 17,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Period when sea levels were significantly lower, the freshwater

Mahurangi River The Mahurangi River in northern New Zealand flows through the town of Warkworth and into Mahurangi Harbour, which opens into the outer Hauraki Gulf. The Left Branch of the river rises in the Dome and flows through the Dome Valley, while the Right ...

flowed into the vast coastal plain that existed where the modern Hauraki Gulf exists. The river met the

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 easter ...

(then a river) east of

Kawau Island Kawau Island is in the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana, close to the north-eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. At its closest point it lies off the coast of the Northland Peninsula, just south of Tāwharanui Peninsula, and about ...

, and flowed north-east between modern day

Little Barrier Island Little Barrier Island, or Hauturu in Māori language (the official Māori title is ''Te Hauturu-o-Toi''), lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located to the north of Auckland, the island is separated from the mainla ...

and

Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...

, eventually emptying into the Pacific Ocean north of Great Barrier Island. The modern harbour formed approximately 7,200 years ago at the end of the last glacial maximum, when the forested valley was flooded by rising sea levels.

Land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long h ...

within the harbour's

catchment basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

has been changing, and models predict an increase in

sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...

. A number of settlements are found along the shores of the harbour:

Mahurangi West Mahurangi West is a rural settlement in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Puhoi is to the west, Mahurangi Harbour is to the east, and the western part of Mahurangi Regional Park is southeast. Mahurangi Heads West School operated from 1886 t ...

, Pukapuka, Pohuehue,

Snells Beach Snells Beach is a small coastal town in the north of Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the eastern coast of the Mahurangi Peninsula and its namesake beach faces east across Kawau Bay to Kawau Island. The near ...

and Scotts Landing. The major town of Warkworth is located along the

, a tidal estuary of the harbour. The

Mahurangi Regional Park Mahurangi Regional Park is a regional park situated on the north-eastern coast of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located in Rodney (local board area), Rodney, north of the main Auckland urban area, and is owned and operat ...

is located at the headlands on either side of the entrance to the harbour.

History

The Mahurangi Harbour was settled by the Ngāti Rongo people of

Ngāti Whātua Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te ...

/ Te Kawerau descent, between the 17th and 20th centuries. Te Muri, to the south of the harbour's mouth, was a major settlement of Ngāti Rongo until the death of

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...

Te Hemara Tauhia in 1891. Sea captain John Sullivan moved to the area in the 1870s, settling at Otarawao and marrying Merehai Kaipuke, a Ngāti Rongo woman of high birth. Their family farmed the area for over a century. After being extensively hunted in the 19th century,

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...

s have returned and can again sometimes be seen in Mahurangi Harbour.

References

{{Rodney Local Board Area Geography of Auckland Rodney Local Board Area Ports and harbours of New Zealand