Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of the
Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
metropolitan area, located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completion of the
Tauranga Harbour Bridge
The Tauranga Harbour Bridge refers to two bridges (the original two lanes wide, and the new three lanes wide) that carry Te Awanui Drive over the Tauranga Harbour. Te Awanui Drive is part of an expressway that connects Tauranga to Mount Maungan ...
in 1988, which connects Mount Maunganui to Tauranga's central business district.
Mount Maunganui is also the name of the large lava dome which was formed by the upwelling of rhyolite lava about two to three million years ago.
It is officially known by its
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 ...
name ''
Mauao'', but is colloquially known in New Zealand simply as ''The Mount''.
The New Zealand
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...
gives a translation of "large mountain" for ''Maunganui''.
Geography
Mount Maunganui is located atop a
sand bar that connects Mauao to the mainland, a geographical formation known as a
tombolo
A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island become ...
. Because of this formation, the residents of Mount Maunganui have both a
harbour beach (Pilot Bay) and an ocean beach with great surf, within a short distance. At the base of Mauao, the distance between the harbour and ocean side is a couple of
blocks.
The ocean beach has Mauao or Mount Maunganui at its western end, and a man made land bridge connecting
Moturiki Island at its eastern end.
Adjacent to Mount Maunganui on its south-eastern edge (from Sandhurst Drive onwards) is
Papamoa Beach
, image = View_to_Mayor.jpg
, caption1 = Looking towards Mayor Island down Domain Rd from the Papamoa Hills
, city1 = Tauranga
, ward =
, council = Tauranga City Council
, established =
, coord ...
, another very large suburb of Tauranga. Papamoa Beach has a slightly larger population than Mount Maunganui, but doesn't have as many businesses as Mount Maunganui. Both suburbs are distinctly geographically separate from the rest of Tauranga by the Tauranga Harbour; two bridges (SH2 and SH29) and the winding Welcome Bay Road are the only connections by land to the central business district.
Mauao (''The Mount'') is a large lava dome
which rises above the town. According to Maori legend, this hill was a pononga
lave
''Lave'' was an ironclad floating battery of the French Navy during the 19th century. She was part of the of floating batteries.
In the 1850s, the British and French navies deployed iron-armoured floating batteries as a supplement to the wooden ...
to a mountain called Otanewainuku. The conical headland which gives the town its name is in height, and dominates the mostly flat surrounding countryside. It was formerly a Māori
pā, and the remains of trenches can be seen in the ridges, as well as ancient shell
midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
s. Today, it is open to the public year-round, and is a popular place to either walk around, or climb up. From the summit, a good stretch of coastline can be seen in either direction, as well as the
Kaimai Range
The Kaimai Range (sometimes referred to as the ''Kaimai Ranges'') is a mountain range in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of a series of ranges, with the Coromandel Range to the north and the Mamaku Ranges to the south. The Kaimai Ra ...
to the west.
Demographics
Mount Maunganui covers
and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
![View of Mount Maunganui ATLIB 353595](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/View_of_Mount_Maunganui_ATLIB_353595.png)
Mount Maunganui had a population of 6,510 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 696 people (12.0%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 1,176 people (22.0%) 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 2,724 households, comprising 3,264 males and 3,249 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female, with 918 people (14.1%) aged under 15 years, 1,332 (20.5%) aged 15 to 29, 3,153 (48.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,101 (16.9%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 90.2% European/
Pākehā
Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...
, 13.3%
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 ...
, 1.4%
Pacific peoples, 3.2%
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 3.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 20.6, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 58.8% had no religion, 32.1% 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 ...
, 0.7% had
Māori religious beliefs, 0.6% were
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, 0.6% were
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
and 1.8% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,584 (28.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 675 (12.1%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,449 people (25.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,090 (55.3%) people were employed full-time, 837 (15.0%) were part-time, and 141 (2.5%) were unemployed.
Politics
Over the years Mount Maunganui had suffered a number of attacks on its sovereignty by Tauranga but had fought fully and effectively to remain independent until the
1989 local government reforms.
During 1974
Bob Owens was Mayor of both Mount Maunganui and Tauranga, a unique situation in the annals of local government in New Zealand. Mr Owens made no secret of the fact that he favoured the joining of the two municipalities. The election of 1974 was fought on this issue and Owens was defeated in the polls in Mount Maunganui with a landslide victory to Mr L. Kelvin O'Hara, the youngest person elected to the position of Mayor in New Zealand, who challenged him on the issue, and other environmental issues with the catch cry "why share a mayor?"
It remains controversial in Mount Maunganui whether the transition from an independently administered unit of local government to a minor part of the Tauranga City Council over 20 years ago was beneficial.
Some Mount Maunganui residents are still of the opinion Tauranga and Mount Maunganui are separate towns, even though they officially amalgamated in 1989. Simon Bridges, the local Member of Parliament for the area, described it in Parliament in 2012 "I have to say that there still is, though—and I have found this when first standing for Parliament—a sense of the "Mounties" and of those who are city-side, and that is still present to some extent"
History
Mount Maunganui was known colloquially as ''Maunganui'' until 1907; during the application process to formally name the area when the first subdivision of land was carried out, Maunganui was dismissed as being too similar to several other towns' names. One of the early settlers, J.C. Adams, then suggested three alternative names, which were Te Maire, Tamure (the
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 ...
name for
Snapper), and Rakataura, with the latter name selected by the Survey Department. The official name Rakataura never came into common use, as Maunganui had long been the unofficial name of the area. The name ''Mount'' Maunganui originated as a rebranding by early developers, who succeeded in changing the official name of the town from Rakataura. The current name is an example of a
tautological place name, ''maunga'' being a
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 ...
term for mountain (''nui'' means "big").
Mount Maunganui fought fiercely and successfully during the 1950s to retain independence from Tauranga, then failed with the completion of the harbour bridge in 1988.
The former Mount Maunganui Borough Council set records in New Zealand as having never had a deficit in its history, something which Tauranga City Council has never achieved. Critics say the town was built by leveraging the commercial and industrial ratepayers, but Mount Maunganui was a forerunner in some areas and applied the user pays philosophy before it was common in New Zealand.
The original house of early settler J.C. Adams, the first home built at Mount Maunganui, still stands at 4 Adams Avenue. The 1906 house is registered with
Heritage New Zealand
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...
as a Category II historic building.
The local Whareroa Marae and Rauru ki Tahi meeting house is a meeting place for the
Ngāi Te Rangi
Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east.
Ngāi ...
hapū
In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...
of
Ngāti Kuku and
Ngāi Tukairangi.
Character
Mount Maunganui is regarded by many to be a
coastal resort town
A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...
, although
Port of Tauranga
The Port of Tauranga is situated in Tauranga, New Zealand. It is the largest port in the country both in terms of total cargo volume, and in terms of container throughput with container volumes exceeding 1.2 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equival ...
, a major facility, is also partly located on the western (harbour) side. It is also well known for the quality of its
surfing
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...
conditions, though parts of the beach are notoriously dangerous. The harbour bridge was opened in 1988, linking Mount Maunganui with Tauranga. The construction of a duplication bridge was completed in December 2009, forming a vital link in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui's growing motorway system.
A large container terminal and overseas wharf is located at Mount Maunganui. A branch railway from the East Coast Main Trunk railway runs between the Te Maunga and northern parts of the suburb.
Mount Maunganui also features the popular
Bayfair Shopping Centre
Bayfair Shopping Centre, (usually referred to as 'Bayfair' by locals), is the main shopping mall in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand.
Location
Bayfair Shopping Centre is located on the corner of Maunganui Road ( State Highway 2) and Girven Road. ...
. The centre is one of the largest in the North Island outside
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 ...
and
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
.
Mount Maunganui is a popular New Years destination, with over 20,000 people frequenting the suburb over the New Years period. Many festivities take place on and around the main beach in the north of the suburb.
As part of the Port of Tauranga is located in Mount Maunganui, there are many cruise ship visits annually to the suburb.
Sport
![Ariel view of ASB Stadium and ASB Arena](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Ariel_view_of_ASB_Stadium_and_ASB_Arena.jpg)
The suburb is home to the cricket ground
Bay Oval
Bay Oval is a cricket ground in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty area of New Zealand. The ground was built in Blake Park and opened in 2005.
Bay Oval has hosted men's and women's international limited overs matches since 2014. It h ...
, which held the 2018
ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup
The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup is an international cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) contested by national under-19 teams. First contested in 1988, as the Youth World Cup, it was not staged again u ...
final on 3 February 2018.
Every year Mount Maunganui hosts the Northern Regional Surf Championships (NRC's), and other events such as the NZ Under 14 Ocean Athlete Championships, the Pro Volleyball Tour and The Port of Tauranga Half Ironman triathlon.
Artificial reef
New Zealand's first
artificial reef
An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing.
Many re ...
was installed at the Mount. Construction of the reef was hampered by lack of funds and ironically, too many waves.
Initially the public was told the reef would cost about $500k,
but costs escalated to $800k.
Media reported that local surfers are disappointed with the waves produced by the reef.
The reef has also been blamed for creating
rips and has now been removed.
Climate
The climate is mild subtropic:
Local weather stations
/ref>
* Summer = 20 °C / 30 °C. ( Jan/Feb )
* Winter = 10 °C / 15 °C. ( Jun/Jul )
* Frosts Avg/Yr = 12 ( -1 °C −2 °C ).
* Rainfall = 1280mm/Yr.Avg
* Sunshine = Min 2200hrs/Yr.
* Beach Temp avg.
* Summer = 21 °C.
* Winter = 14 °C.
Education
Mount Maunganui Primary School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 6 students, with a roll of as of .
Several schools are located in the suburbs of Omanu and Arataki
Arataki is a neighbourhood of Mount Maunganui Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island.
Bayfair Shopping Centre is located in Arataki.
Demographics
Arataki covers and had an estimated population of as of with a ...
, including Mount Maunganui College and Mount Maunganui Intermediate
Omanu is a beach and suburb in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island.
The white sandy beach is accessible via several public walkways through the dunes. It is a popular place to swim, surf and wa ...
.
See also
* Mauao (Mount Maunganui)
* Mount Maunganui College
References
External links
Mount Maunganui Tourism Website
{{Tauranga
Maunganui, Mount
Surfing locations in New Zealand
Tauranga
Tombolos
Tourist attractions in the Bay of Plenty Region
Landforms of the Bay of Plenty Region
Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region
Beaches of the Bay of Plenty Region
Populated places around the Tauranga Harbour