Parengarenga Harbour is a natural harbour close to the northernmost point on the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
of New Zealand. Located at the northern end of the
Aupouri Peninsula, it extends inland for over 10 kilometres, almost severing the northern tip of the island from the rest of the peninsula. The harbour's mouth is towards the northern end of
Great Exhibition Bay
Great Exhibition Bay is a wide embayment close to the northernmost tip of New Zealand's North Island. It lies on the east coast of the Aupouri Peninsula in the Northland Region. The large natural inlet of Parengarenga Harbour lies at the northern ...
. The island's northernmost point, at the
Surville Cliffs
North Cape () is the northernmost point of New Zealand's main islands. At the northeastern tip of the Aupouri Peninsula, the cape lies east and north of Cape Reinga. The name ''North Cape'' is sometimes used to refer just to the cape that is kn ...
is only about 10 kilometres north of the harbour.
Te Hāpua
Te Hāpua is a community on the shores of the Parengarenga Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. The road to Te Hāpua leaves State Highway 1 at Waitiki Landing.
Te Hāpua is the most northerly settlement in the North Island of New Zealand. The 2 ...
is a settlement at the western side of the harbour.
History
The harbour was an important location for the
kauri gum digging trade in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, as some of the highest quality kauri gum could be found around the harbour. The Parenga Gumfield Company was formed to harvest this resource.
The white sand of Kokota Sandspit, at the southern head of Parengarenga Harbour, has provided a source of high purity
silica sand for glassmaking. Dredging continued here until 1997. While smaller or lower purity deposits are found elsewhere in Northland, the Parengarenga area holds the region's largest silica sand resource by far.
and his wife,
Ngāwini Yates
Ngāwini Yates (1852–1853 – 19 July 1910) was a part-Māori New Zealander, who was a storekeeper, farmer and businesswoman in the Northland Peninsula, far north of New Zealand in the later part of the 19th century.
Early life
Ngāwini Yat ...
, were prominent landowners in the area in the later part of the 19th century and had a homestead on the southern side of the harbour, at Paua.
Ecology
The water is a habitat for
Green sea turtle
The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...
s, and
dolphins,
Killer whales, and
Pilot whales visit the adjacent areas.
Gallery
File:The Yates property at Parengarenga Harbour, 1910.webp, The Yates property at Parengarenga Harbour, 1910
File:Parengarenga_Harbour.jpg, Panorama of the Parengarenga Harbour
File:Parengarenga Harbour New Zealand Aotearoa.jpg, Parengaranga from Great Exhibition Bay
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Far North District
Geography of the Northland Region
Ports and harbours of New Zealand
Kauri gum