Paratutae Island and Whatipu beach from Ōmanawanui Trail

Paratutae Island, also known as Paratūtai Island, is an island at the mouth of the

Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burne ...

, at

Whatipu Whatipu is a remote beach on the west coast of the Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. The Whatipu area has been managed as a scientific reserve by the Auckland Regional Council since 2002. The road to it is unsealed. To the so ...

in the

Waitākere Ranges The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. The area, traditionally kno ...

area.

Geology

The island is a portion of a

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 ...

era volcanic

dyke swarm A dike swarm (American spelling) or dyke swarm (British spelling) is a large geological structure consisting of a major group of parallel, linear, or radially oriented magmatic dikes intruded within continental crust or central volcanoes ...

History

Te Kawerau ā Maki Te Kawerau ā Maki, Te Kawerau a Maki, or Te Kawerau-a-Maki is a Māori '' iwi'' (tribe) of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It had 251 registered adult members as of June 2017. Auckland Council gave it land for a marae at Te Henga (Bethells ...

oral histories, the island was visited by the Polynesian navigator

Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is g ...

. A section of the island is known by the name Te Hoe-a-Kupe ("The Paddle of Kupe"), referring to the location where Kupe struck his paddle against the island, to commemorate his visit. The island was the location of a Te Kawerau ā Maki defensive pā, guarding the entrance to the

. Around the year 1700, the pā was captured by Kawharu, the famed

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are ...

warrior who led

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, ...

warriors to take the Waitākere Ranges area. The island is one of the few locations where pre-European Māori textiles have been found, during an archaeological survey in the early 1900s. The etymology of the island's name is contested. Many attest that the word is a corruption of Paratūtai, referring to the rise and fall of the tides at the Manukau Bar, while a separate traditional story involves a chief visiting the island and developing

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...

after eating too much para fern root (''

Ptisana salicina ''Ptisana salicina'', or king fern, is a species of fern native to Norfolk Island, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Large and robust with a distinctive tropical appearance, it has fronds up to 5 metres (16 feet +/-) tall that arise from a sta ...

''), The rocky sections of Whatipu, Motu Paratūtai, Te Toka Tapu ā Kupe / Ninepin Rock and Te Marotiri ō Takamiro (Cutter Rock) were collectively known as Te Kupenga ā Taramainuku, or "The Fishing Net of Taramainuku". A signal mast was installed on the island in the 1850s, in order to improve safety for ships entering the Manukau Harbour. In November 1863 during the

Invasion of the Waikato The Invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federatio ...

, a Waikato raiding party climbed the island and cut down the signal mast. In the latter 19th century, a wharf was constructed on the north-east side of the island. Waitākere Ranges

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

timber would transported to the Whatipu sawmill and the wharf by tramway. The wharf was used until 1921, and was demolished in 1950. While originally an island separated from the mainland, the sandbank at Whatipu gradually accumulated during the late 20th century, so that by 1989 Paratutae had become a

tied island Tied islands, or land-tied islands as they are often known, are landforms consisting of an island that is connected to mainland or another island only by a tombolo: a spit of beach materials connected to land at both ends. St Ninian's Isle i ...

References

Print references

* {{Waitākere Ranges Local Board Area Dike swarms Islands of the Auckland Region Manukau Harbour Rock formations of New Zealand Tied islands Uninhabited islands of New Zealand