Mount Manaia is a dominant landmark approximately 30 kilometres southeast of
Whangārei
Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and Hikurangi Town coun ...
city on the
Whangārei Heads
Whangārei Heads is a locality and volcanic promontory on the northern side of the Whangārei Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. Whangārei is to the north-west, and Ocean Beach is to the south-east, with Taurikura between the two. Mount Ma ...
peninsula.
Standing 420 metres, the summit offers outstanding views of the
Marsden Point Oil Refinery Marsden Point Oil Refinery is a 96,000 BPD refinery located at Marsden Point, Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand. It is the only oil refinery in New Zealand, and is operated by Refining NZ. The point was named after Samuel Marsden. The regional sur ...
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,Whangārei Harbour to the west and the
Poor Knights Islands
The Poor Knights Islands ( Māori: ''Tawhiti Rahi)'' are a group of islands off the east coast of the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. They lie to the northeast of Whangarei, and offshore halfway between Bream Head ...
and Northland coast to the north.
Mt Manaia - along with Mt Lion,
Bream Head
Bream Head is a promontory on the east coast of Northland Region, Northland in the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the end of a 30 kilometre-long peninsula, the head juts into the Pacific Ocean to the southeast of Whangārei. The Hen and ...
and the
Hen and Chicken Islands
The Hen and Chicken Islands (usually known collectively as the ''Hen and Chickens'') lie to the east of the North Auckland Peninsula off the coast of northern New Zealand. They lie east of Bream Head and south-east of Whangarei with a tota ...
, are the scattered remnants of
andesite
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...
, volcanic intusions that erupted with force 16 to 22 million years ago during the early
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
. They are part of a stratovolcano that extended to the Hen and Chickens. Its jagged outline is similar to that of its neighbours and other volcanic outcrops in Northland that erupted in a similar period.
Today blanketed by native bush, Manaia's jagged peaks and steep bluffs are protected within a Department of Conservation reserve which features a well-maintained 1½ hour track to the summit.
Photo gallery
File:Mt Manaia from camp.JPG, Mt Manaia viewed from Manaia Baptist Camp at
Taurikura
Taurikura is a small, rural township in the Whangarei District, approximately south east of Whangārei city in Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. The town is located on the shores of Calliope Bay at the base of Mount Manaia which, along ...
Taurikura
Taurikura is a small, rural township in the Whangarei District, approximately south east of Whangārei city in Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. The town is located on the shores of Calliope Bay at the base of Mount Manaia which, along ...
viewed from the flanks of Mt Manaia
File:Whangarei Harbour.JPG, Whangārei Harbour viewed from the summit
File:Marsden_Point.JPG, Looking down at the
Marsden Point Oil Refinery Marsden Point Oil Refinery is a 96,000 BPD refinery located at Marsden Point, Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand. It is the only oil refinery in New Zealand, and is operated by Refining NZ. The point was named after Samuel Marsden. The regional sur ...
from across Whangārei Harbour
File:Mt Lion.JPG,
Bream Head
Bream Head is a promontory on the east coast of Northland Region, Northland in the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the end of a 30 kilometre-long peninsula, the head juts into the Pacific Ocean to the southeast of Whangārei. The Hen and ...
and the Bream Islands viewed from atop the summit
File:Bream Islands.JPG, The Bream Islands with
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 ...