Motuihe Island (official name: Motuihe Island / Te Motu-a-Ihenga) lies between

Motutapu Motutapu Island (otherwise known as ''Motutapu'') is a island in the Hauraki Gulf to the northeast of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. The island is part of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park. Its full name, rarely used, is ''Te Motutapu a Taikeh ...

and

Waiheke Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most po ...

islands in 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,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 ...

, near

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 ...

. The island measures , of which around are remnants of coastal forest. The island is a recreation reserve controlled 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 ...

(DOC) and administered by the

Motuihe Trust Motuihe Island (official name: Motuihe Island / Te Motu-a-Ihenga) lies between Motutapu Island, Motutapu and Waiheke Island, Waiheke islands in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, near Auckland. The island measures , of which around are remnants o ...

. It is a popular spot for day trips, accessible from Auckland by seaplane or by private boat. The island is known for its beautiful beaches.Motuihe Recreation Reserve
. Department of Conservation. Retrieved 27 February 2008.Motuihe Project
". Motuihe Trust. Retrieved 27 February 2008. The name comes from ''Te Motu-a-Ihenga'',

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 ...

for 'Ihenga's Island'.Motuihe Recreation Reserve: History
. Department of Conservation. Retrieved 27 February 2008.

History

The small island has had a colourful human history. Starting out as a Māori settlement place, at least two pā fortification sites are known on the island. The locals are said to have grown

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earli ...

s and

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

. William Fairburn purchased Motuihe in 1839 from William Jowett, Ko Nuki and Te Manago: chiefs of Te Iwi Tutu,

Ngāi Tai Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

and Ngatiwaki respectively. They paid one heifer, twenty blankets, ten axes, ten hoes, ten spades, six gowns, two red blankets, 12 Dutch pipes, six iron pots and one shawl. Very soon after arrival of the Europeans in the area, farming began in the 1840s. Groves of Norfolk pines and olive trees are remnants of this time. In 1872 the island was designated as a human quarantine station for smallpox victims. A

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

station was built on the western section of the island in 1873. It was used in 1874 for

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

arriving on an inbound ship and operated for almost 50 years, slowly growing in size. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the station was used as an internment camp whose most famous prisoner was Count Felix von Luckner and his crew of the commerce raider ''

SMS Seeadler SMS ''Seeadler'' ("His Majesty's Ship ''Sea Eagle''") was an unprotected cruiser of the , the third member of a class of six ships built by the German ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy). Her sister ships included , the lead ship, along wit ...

''. Captured in September 1917, in December Luckner used a Christmas play as a ruse to organise an escape. He got provisions and seized the island's launch, a

scow A scow is a smaller type of barge. Some scows are rigged as sailing scows. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scows carried cargo in coastal waters and inland waterways, having an advantage for navigating shallow water or small harbours. S ...

. Then sailing to the

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total ar ...

he was recaptured (and escaped again), though not before becoming something of an odd type of hero in the eyes of many New Zealanders, for the fact that his numerous and daring wartime escapades had killed only a single person. Following the First World War, the island was again used as a quarantine station during the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

. With the outbreak of World War II, the buildings became a naval training base, HMNZS ''Tamaki'', and a number of newer buildings were added. The base remained a navy training ground until 1963, when its functions were moved to the North Shore mainland.

Conservation

The island's trust organises an active programme of pest eradication and is gradually replanting sections of the island with native trees. Rats and mice were eradicated in 1996 and rabbits in 2004. The conservation programme has reintroduced native species such as the

North Island saddleback The North Island saddleback (''Philesturnus rufusater'') is a forest-dwelling passerine bird species endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It was once considered conspecific with the South Island saddleback. The IUCN lists the species as Ne ...

(''tieke'').Motuihe Recreation Reserve: Features
. Department of Conservation. Retrieved 27 February 2008. The Trust maintains a small conservation presence on the island, and usually has a number of volunteers working at the local tree nursery or in other conservation programmes. In early 2008, rat footprints were found in a tracking tunnel (a device to check for the presence of certain animals) on the island. This set off a substantial effort by the trust and DOC to catch the rodent, which was feared to be part of a larger infestation. The

Norwegian rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest Muroidea, muroids, it is a ...

was eventually trapped by a special hunting dog, allowing plans to release native

red-fronted parakeet The red-crowned parakeet (''Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae''), also known as red-fronted parakeet and by its Māori name of kākāriki,Parr, M., Juniper, T., D'Silva, C., Powell, D., Johnston, D., Franklin, K., & Restall, R. (2010). Parrots: A Guid ...

s (kākāriki) to continue as planned in May 2008, when 31 were brought by helicopter from

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 ...

, where there is a relatively large population. In March 2009, fifteen

little spotted kiwi The little spotted kiwi or little grey kiwi (''Apteryx owenii'') is a small flightless bird in the kiwi family Apterygidae. It is the smallest species of all five kiwis, at about , about the size of a bantam. It is endemic to New Zealand, and i ...

were released on the island. In May 2009, 350 'agents' of

The Nikolai Organisation The Nikolai Organisation (The N.O.) is an experiential marketing campaign and alternate reality gaming platform created by Hadleigh Averill (The Agent-C) in partnership with Running With Scissors. Activated in New Zealand in 2007 for vodka brand S ...

planted 22,400 native trees on Motuihe Island in just one day, which was 40% of the 2009 planting programme. In 2017, Ricoh New Zealand employees and customers reached their goal of planting 20,000 trees across "Ricoh Valley". Many invasive weed species are present on Motuihe. Moth plant (''

Araujia sericifera ''Araujia sericifera'' is a perennial vining plant in the genus '' Araujia'', of the family Apocynaceae. The species was described in 1817 by the Portuguese botanist Félix de Avelar Brotero. The synonym ''Araujia hortorum'' is in more frequent ...

''), woolly nightshade (''

Solanum mauritianum ''Solanum mauritianum'' is a small tree or shrub native to South America, including Northern Argentina, Southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Its common names include earleaf nightshade (or "ear-leaved nightshade"), woolly nightshade, flannel we ...

'') and Italian buckthorn (''

Rhamnus alaternus ''Rhamnus alaternus'' is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, known by the common names Italian buckthorn or Mediterranean buckthorn. It is a hardy medium-sized evergreen shrub with fragrant flowers. Etymology The s ...

'') slow the forest's regeneration and require constant management with the help of volunteers.

References

External links

Motuihe Trust

held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{Authority control Uninhabited islands of New Zealand Islands of the Hauraki Gulf Forts in New Zealand Quarantine facilities in New Zealand Internment camps Royal New Zealand Navy bases Island restoration Islands of the Auckland Region

History

Conservation

See also

References

External links