Golden Bay, New Zealand
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Golden Bay / Mohua is a large shallow bay in New Zealand's
Tasman District Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council ...
, near the northern tip of the
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
. An arm of the
Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...
, the bay lies northwest of
Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches alon ...
and
Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...
. It is protected in the north by
Farewell Spit Farewell Spit () is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay, in the South Island of New Zealand. The spit includes around of stable land and another of mobile sand spit running eastwards from Cape Farewell, the northern-mos ...
, a arm of fine golden sand that is the country's longest sandspit. The Aorere and
Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay / Mohua, Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 (New Zealand), State Highway 60 r ...
rivers are the major waterways to flow into the bay from the south and the west. The bay was once a resting area for migrating
whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...
s and
dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
s such as
southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...
s and
humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...
s, and
pygmy blue whale The pygmy blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda'') is a subspecies of the blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') found in the Indian Ocean and the Southern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy The pygmy blue whale formed from a founder group of An ...
s may be observed off the bay as well. The west and northern regions of the bay are largely unpopulated. Along its southern coast are the towns of
Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay / Mohua, Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 (New Zealand), State Highway 60 r ...
and Collingwood, and the
Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a national park at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. It covers of land between Golden Bay / Mohua and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, making it the smallest of National parks of New Zealand, New Zealand's ...
. Separation Point / Te Matau, the natural boundary between Golden and Tasman Bays, is in the park. North-eastern parts of
Kahurangi National Park Kahurangi National Park is a national park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging from the Buller River near Murc ...
are in Golden Bay. It is known for being a popular tourist destination, because of its good weather and relaxed, friendly lifestyle. Beaches such as Tata Beach are popular locations for retirees and holiday homes (also known as baches).


Name

In Golden Bay / Mohua has been known by several names over the years. Local
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 Co ...
named the bay and surrounding area Mohua, after the bird of the same name that was once common in the area, but is no longer found nearby. Upon his arrival in 1642,
Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...
named the bay , meaning "Killers' Bay" or "Murderers' Bay", after four of his crew were killed there in a clash with local Māori. In 1770,
James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
included it as part of
Tasman Bay Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches alon ...
, which he called "Blind Bay". Fifty years later,
Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist and cartographer, he gave his name ...
distinguished it from neighbouring Tasman Bay (which continued to be called Blind Bay), giving it the name Massacre Bay. The bay was renamed again following the discovery of coal in Tākaka in 1842, taking on the name Coal Bay, although Massacre Bay continued to be used. In the late 1850s, the discovery of gold inland from Parapara prompted another change, this time to Golden Bay. Golden Bay increased in usage from this point, and had fully gained prominence over Massacre Bay by the 1920s. In 2014, the bay was officially given the dual name of Golden Bay / Mohua, incorporating 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 Co ...
name alongside its previous Pākehā name.


History

Māori lived along the shores of Golden Bay from at least 1450, which is the earliest dated archaeological evidence (from carbon dating) yet found. In 2010 an extensive scientific study was made of Golden Bay by a team from Otago University led by Associate Professor Ian Barber. They accurately plotted and investigated a large number of early Māori sites ranging from
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...
to
kāinga A kāinga ( southern Māori: ''kaika'' or ''kaik'') is the traditional form of village habitation of pre-European Māori in New Zealand. It was unfortified or only lightly fortified, and over time became less important than the well-fortified ...
to probable
kūmara The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...
gardens that stretch along the coastal arc from the base of Farewell Spit at Triangle Flat, 60 km eastwards to a pā site 10 km east of Separation Point. Some of the original inhabitants of the area were Waitaha,
Ngāi Tara Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
and Ngāti Wairangi (
Hauāuru Māori Hauāuru Māori are a group of Māori iwi at or around the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It includes the ''iwi'' (tribe) of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi and its affiliated iwi of Ngāti Hau. It also includes the iwi of Ngāti ...
from
Whanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganui is ...
), who were displaced by
Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, who arrived on the '' Kurahaupō'' waka. In the 1600s the iwi settled northwestern South Island, becoming a major power in the region until the 1800s. In 1642, members of Ngāti T ...
in the early 1600s. Dutch explorer
Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...
anchored in this bay in 1642. Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri rammed the Dutch ship's cockboat with a
waka WAKA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Selma, Alabama, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Montgomery area. It is owned by Bahakel Communications alongside Tuskegee-licensed CW+ affiliate WBMM (channel 22); B ...
and four Dutch seamen were killed by Māori, prompting Tasman to name it ''Moordenaar's Bay'' ('Murderers Bay'). Archeological research has shown the Dutch had tried to land at a major agricultural area, which the Māori may have been trying to protect. Tasman saw at least 22 waka. He recorded that of the 11 waka that chased his ship, most had 17 men on board. This gives a total of about 200 men, with a likely population of about 500 people. Tasman had already been in the bay five days when attacked giving the Māori time to assemble an attack force. Archaeological evidence has not shown any large settlements so it is likely that the iwi normally lived in whanau based groups scattered along the coast but mainly in the eastern bay at Ligar Bay, Tata Beach and Wainui Bay where there are 20 known archaeological sites in a 10 km zone. In 1770, during his first voyage, English explorer
James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
included the bay as part of ''Blind Bay'', but upon his second voyage to the bay in 1773 realised that it was in fact the location of Murderers Bay. The French explorer
Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...
appears to have changed the name to ''Massacre Bay''. After Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri's defeat in the 1810s, Golden Bay became a part of the
rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several . Background In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...
of
Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe) in the upper South Island of New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal lands) include the areas around Golden Bay / Mohua, Golden Bay, Tākaka, Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, Motueka, Nelson, Ne ...
.


Pākehā settlement

European settlement commenced in October 1842 with the Lovell family settling at Motupipi near the then existing Māori pā site. Earlier, in March of that year,
Frederick Tuckett Frederick Tuckett (1807–1876) was a New Zealand surveyor, explorer and New Zealand Company agent. He was born in Frenchay, Gloucestershire, England in about 1807. He surveyed Nelson and Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most popul ...
had discovered coal on the beach near the Motupipi pā. There was a report from May 1841, which also stated there was coal in the area. In the 1840s, following the discoveries, the local population unsuccessfully sought to have it renamed ''Coal Bay''. In 1846,
Charles Heaphy Charles Heaphy VC (1820 – 3 August 1881) was an English-born New Zealand explorer and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that could be awarded to British and Empire forc ...
and
Thomas Brunner Thomas Brunner (April 1821 – 22 April 1874) was an English-born Surveying, surveyor and explorer remembered for his exploration of the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Brunner was born in April 1821 in Oxfo ...
with their Māori guide
Kehu Kehu also known as Ekehu, Hone Mokehakeha and Hone Mokekehu was an important ancestor to the Māori people, Māori nations Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, Ngāti Tūmatakokiri and Ngāti Apa. He was an expert on how to traverse their regions and knowled ...
, passed through Golden Bay on their journey to the West Coast. In 1850, Packard, Robinson and Lovell started the first sawmill in Tākaka and between 1852 and 1856 land was sold to various European immigrants in Golden Bay by some members of the local iwi but without the consent of the entire iwi. In 1855 William Gibbs bought of land from local Māori and established the town of Gibbstown which later was renamed Collingwood. In the late 1850s, with the discovery of gold at Aorere, its name was changed to ''Golden Bay''. In the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, miners returned to search for any remaining gold in a government-subsidised prospecting scheme for the unemployed, and about 40 miners lived in a dozen huts around Waingaro Forks. The road over
Tākaka Hill Tākaka Hill, previously also referred to as Marble Mountain, is a range of hills in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. Made of marble that has weathered into many strange forms and with numerous sinkholes, it is typical karst cou ...
was completed in 1888. Prior to this, the usual method of access to Golden Bay was by sea. A coal mining lease was granted to Joseph Taylor and James Walker in 1895 to a piece of land at
Pūponga Pūponga is a tiny settlement in New Zealand and is the northernmost settlement in the South Island. It is in the Tasman District, north of Collingwood, at the foot of Farewell Spit. The spit's airstrip, Triangle Flat Airstrip is just north ...
on the coast between
Farewell Spit Farewell Spit () is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay, in the South Island of New Zealand. The spit includes around of stable land and another of mobile sand spit running eastwards from Cape Farewell, the northern-mos ...
and Collingwood. They subsequently discovered a seam of coal that was between three and seven feet in depth. Work on developing a mine progressed with a tramline built and a wharf built, and dredging took place to allow ships to berth and be loaded with coal. By 1910, 73 men were employed at the mine and over 30,000 tons of coal had been mined. The mine was run by various companies until 1974 when it became uneconomic. Deposits of
limonite Limonite () is an iron ore consisting of a mixture of hydrated iron(III) oxide-hydroxides in varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as , although this is not entirely accurate as the ratio of oxide to hydroxide can vary qu ...
and coal lead to the development of an iron works at Onekaka. The Onekaka Ironworks started operating in 1924. A hydroelectric scheme was built to power the ironworks and a wharf and tramway were built to move supplies and product in and out of the factory. The ironworks fell victim to the great depression, a saturated local market for iron and Australian tariffs limiting the export potential. The iron works closed in 1935. The iron works were nationalised but the grand plans to revitalise the iron works never succeeded and it was finally closed for good in 1954.


Conservation efforts

The
Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a national park at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. It covers of land between Golden Bay / Mohua and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, making it the smallest of National parks of New Zealand, New Zealand's ...
was established on 16 December 1942 which was 300 years exactly after Abel Tasman had visited Golden Bay. It was established thanks to the determined efforts of
Pérrine Moncrieff Pérrine Moncrieff (née Millais; 8 February 1893 – 16 December 1979) was a New Zealand writer, conservationist and amateur ornithologist. Biography She was born in London, England in 1893 as Pérrine Millais. She was the granddaughter of t ...
, who was concerned about both a proposal to mill the trees around Totaranui in 1937 and a plan to build a road through the area. Home to beech forests, red tussock, penguin colonies, wading birds and seals, the park has rich ecological systems. During the 1960s and the early 1970s, the Ministry of Works surveyed the land where the
Heaphy Track The Heaphy Track is a popular Tramping in New Zealand, tramping and mountain biking track in the north west of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located within the Kahurangi National Park and classified as one of New Zealand's ten New Ze ...
now exists for a proposed road to link Golden Bay with the
Karamea Karamea is a town on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the northernmost settlement of any real size on the West Coast, and is located northeast by road from Westport, New Zealand, Westport. Apart ...
. This was encouraged by local authorities both in Golden Bay and on the West Coast. The project never progressed beyond this due to public opposition and a lack of funding from the government. The Northwest Nelson Forest Park was created in 1970 by amalgamating eight state forest parks. The Tasman Wilderness area was established in 1988 and this entire area was given the highest level of conservation protection in 1996 when it became the
Kahurangi National Park Kahurangi National Park is a national park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging from the Buller River near Murc ...
. It is the second largest of New Zealand's national park and forms the majority of Golden Bay's interior. The primary reason for its establishment was a new emphasis on protecting the rich biodiversity of the park. It has the largest number of endemic plants of any national park. The park includes the great spotted kiwi,
wētā Wētā (also spelled weta in English) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemism, endemic to New Zealand. They are giant wingless insect, flightless cricket (insect ...
, 29 species of carnivorous snails and native cave spiders. In 1974, the Milnethorpe Park regeneration project was started. of land overlooking the beach which had very poor soils was chosen for the project. Native species would not grow on the land initially. A variety of Australian gum trees and acacias were planted. As they grew and the soil conditions improved, natives were established amongst them. By 2020, the park had a forest like appearance with many kilometres of walking tracks built.


Recent history

On 14 December 2011, the region, along with much of the Nelson and Tasman regions, were hit by heavy rain and flooding. It was described as a 1-in-500-year downpour for Tākaka. This affected many homes around the Pōhara, Ligar Bay, Tata Beach and Wainui area. State Highway 60 between Tākaka and Collingwood was severely damaged at Bird's Hill. The road to Totaranui, a popular isolated tourist destination in Tasman Bay, was badly damaged and was reopened on 29 June 2012. Ex
Cyclone Gita Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita was the most intense tropical cyclone to impact Tonga since reliable records began. The second named storm and first major tropical cyclone of the 2017–18 South Pacific cyclone season, Gita originated from a monsoon ...
hit Golden Bay in February 2018 and damaged state highway 60 over the Tākaka Hill isolating Golden Bay from the rest of the South Island. The road over Tākaka Hill was closed by 16 landslides. Tākaka lost electricity and roads and bridges were damaged making them unusable. Barges were required to bring in food supplies and keep the Fonterra dairy factory in operation in Tākaka. It took a number of days for the
NZ Transport Agency NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), superseded by is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, and administering the New Zealand st ...
to reopen the road over Tākaka Hill to essential vehicles and those most urgently needing to leave the region. The road has taken substantial work and time to repair and was fully repaired by the end of 2021.


Demographics

Golden Bay/Mohua, which includes Collingwood, Parapara,
Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay / Mohua, Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 (New Zealand), State Highway 60 r ...
,
Pōhara Pōhara is a rural locality in the Tasman District of New Zealand's South Island. The locality is northeast of Tākaka and southwest of Tata Beach. To the north is Limestone Bay, part of Golden Bay / Mohua The official spelling was changed ...
and Tata Beach, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Golden Bay/Mohua had a population of 5,226 at the
2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...
, an increase of 237 people (4.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 396 people (8.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 2,124 households, comprising 2,598 males and 2,628 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.99 males per female, with 882 people (16.9%) aged under 15 years, 624 (11.9%) aged 15 to 29, 2,556 (48.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,167 (22.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 94.9% European/
Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
, 8.0%
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 Co ...
, 0.9% Pasifika, 2.1% Asian, and 2.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 21.6, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 65.9% had no religion, 21.9% were
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 0.1% had
Māori religious beliefs 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 Co ...
, 0.3% were
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, 0.1% were
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, 1.0% were
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 2.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 909 (20.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 732 (16.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 381 people (8.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,767 (40.7%) people were employed full-time, 993 (22.9%) were part-time, and 93 (2.1%) were unemployed. Over the summer months, the population of Golden Bay increases significantly with holiday makers taking holidays near the Golden Bay beaches. Numbers of people staying in Golden Bay have been reported as swelling the population up to 25.000 people during the peak holiday season.


Industry

Traditionally, extracting minerals and resources was dominant in Golden Bay. Today, the online retailer HealthPost based in Collingwood is the area's largest employer.


Hydroelectricity

The Cobb Valley is the location of the Cobb Hydroelectric Power Station, built between 1936 and 1956. The reservoir sits at above sea level at the confluence of the Tākaka and Cobb rivers. The power station is situated 600 vertical metres below and provides 32 megawatts of power. The average annual output is 192 GWh. The power station's construction was difficult due to the local weather with an annual rainfall of over and snow and heavy frosts in winter. The dam was originally planned to be concrete but this was deemed to be not suitable and an earth dam was constructed instead. It first produced power in 1944.


Asbestos mining

Asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...
was discovered in Golden Bay in 1882 in the mountains behind Tākaka. Several attempts were made to obtain commercial quantities in 1896 and 1908 but miners struggled with the isolated mountainous location. In 1917, 100 tons of asbestos was brought down by packhorse. With the development of the Cobb Valley hydroelectricity scheme, and in particular, the access road, asbestos mining became viable. Forty tons were extracted each month until the mine closed in 1945. The mine reopened in 1949 with government assistance and mining continued until 1964.


Golden Bay Cement

The components of
Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar (masonry), mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in th ...
were found to be all available in Golden Bay and in the early 1880s a cement works was built near Collingwood but was never completed due to a lack of financing. In 1909 a cement works plant was built at Tarakohe where there was plenty of suitable limestone to quarry close to a safe anchorage. The end product was then shipped to the North Island where plenty of demand existed. A wharf was built in 1910 and then a few years later a road was built from the cement works round the bays to
Pōhara Pōhara is a rural locality in the Tasman District of New Zealand's South Island. The locality is northeast of Tākaka and southwest of Tata Beach. To the north is Limestone Bay, part of Golden Bay / Mohua The official spelling was changed ...
. By 1928, 50,000 tons of cement was produced annually. To provide bulk shipment of cement by sea, the ship ''MV Golden Bay'' was acquired in 1955. In 1988, the new owners,
Fletcher Challenge Fletcher Challenge was a multinational corporation from New Zealand. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and Tasman Pulp and Paper. It had holdings in construction, forestry, building, and energy, i ...
, closed the cement works and transferred the name Golden Bay Cement to their other plant in
Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...
. In 1994, the harbour facilities owned by the cement works were sold to the
Tasman District Council Tasman District Council () is the unitary authority#New Zealand, unitary local authority for the Tasman District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Tasman, who is currently . History Tasman District Council was formed on 1 Novem ...
.


Dairy farming

In 2009, there were 83 dairy farms which supplied the Fonterra factory in Tākaka. The factory turned about 525,000 litres of milk each day into skim milk powder.


References

{{Authority control Bays of the Tasman District Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company * Abel Tasman National Park