regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government.
Definition
A regional park can be a special park distri ...
situated in the
Hauraki District
Hauraki District is a territorial authority within the Hauraki region of New Zealand. The seat of the council is at Paeroa.
The area covered by the district extends from the southwest coast of the Firth of Thames southeast towards Te Aroha, alt ...
and the
Waikato Region
Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...
of New Zealand's North Island, four kilometres north of
Whakatīwai Regional Park
Whakatīwai Regional Park is a regional park on New Zealand's North Island. It runs from the eastern side of the Hunua Ranges, where it adjoins Hunua Ranges Regional Park, down to the Firth of Thames coast, just north of the settlement of Whakatī ...
. It is just south of the border with the Auckland Region, and is owned and operated by Auckland Council. It runs from the eastern side of the
Hunua Ranges
The Hunua Ranges is a mountain range and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city, in the Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand's North Island. The ranges cover some and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui.
, where it adjoins Hunua Ranges Regional Park, down to the
Firth of Thames
The Firth of Thames ( mi, Tikapa Moana-o-Hauraki) is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town of ...
coast.
History
The southern edge of the park is Waihihi Bay, which was a landing site of the ''
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 ...
'' migratory waka. Settled for a prolonged period during the pre-colonial era, Waharau was renowned for known for its
paper mulberry
The paper mulberry (''Broussonetia papyrifera'', syn. ''Morus papyrifera'' L.) is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Asia,karaka groves. Since the 17th century, Waharau has been settled by the Ngāti Puku hapū of
Ngāti Whanaunga
Ngāti Whanaunga is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand, descended from Whanaunga, the third son of Marutūāhu.
It is one of the tribes of the Marutūāhu confederation, the others being Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Ron ...
.
From the 1860s, the area was a site of kauri tree logging by early European settlers.
The area was purchased by the Auckland Regional Authority between 1970 and 1973, in order to provide vehicle access to the eastern water catchment of the
Hunua Ranges
The Hunua Ranges is a mountain range and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city, in the Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand's North Island. The ranges cover some and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui.
. It was later developed into a regional park, and opened by
Te Atairangikaahu
Dame Te Atairangikaahu (23 July 1931 – 15 August 2006) was the Māori queen for 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Her full name and title was Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. Her title Te Arikinui (meaning ''Paramount ...
, the
Māori queen
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 ...