The Pōhutukawa Coast is an area of the

Auckland Region Auckland () is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban areas of New Zealand, urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands o ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The area covers townships south of the

Tāmaki Strait The Tāmaki Strait is an area of the Hauraki Gulf in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. The strait is east of the Waitematā Harbour, and is located between Waiheke Island, East Auckland and the Pōhutukawa Coast. The area is so ...

: Whitford, Beachlands,

Maraetai Maraetai is a coastal town to the east of Auckland in New Zealand, on the Pōhutukawa Coast. Part of the traditional rohe of Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki, the area developed into a coastal holiday community in the early 20th Century. Geography Maraet ...

and

Umupuia Duders Beach, also known as Umupuia Beach, is located in the Auckland Region of New Zealand, to the east of Maraetai on the North Road from Clevedon. Duder Regional Park is on the headland immediately to the east. The land was purchased in 1 ...

. The area was traditionally known as Maraetai, and is within 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 ...

Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki is a Māori people, Māori tribe that is based in the area around Clevedon, New Zealand, Clevedon, part of the Auckland region (''Tāmaki'' in the Māori language). It is one of the twelve members of the Hauraki Collective ...

. In the 1920s, seasonal holiday communities developed in the area, which became permanent residential towns by the 1950s.

Definition and etymology

The Pōhutukawa Coast includes the towns of Whitford, Beachlands,

and

, and includes the Whakakaiwhara Peninsula, the location of

Duder Regional Park Duder Regional Park ( ) is a regional park situated on the coast to the east of Auckland, New Zealand, on the Whakakaiwhara Peninsula. The area was one of the first places in the Auckland Region visited by the ''Tainui (canoe), Tainui'' canoe, ...

. Kawakawa Bay is occasionally included in the definition, and sometimes locations as far as the

Firth of Thames The Firth of Thames () 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 Thames lies on its south ...

, such as

Ōrere Point Ōrere Point is a rural township in the Auckland Region. It is located on the Hauraki Gulf just outside the Auckland metropolitan area. Facilities include a local store, playground, campground, picnic area, parking and limited mobility toilets. ...

and Tāpapakanga Regional Park. One of the earliest uses of the name Pōhutukawa Coast was when the

community newsletter, the Town Crier, rebranded as the newspaper the ''Pohutukawa Coast Times'' in August 1992. This was joined in July 2002 when the Whitford Rotary Club was renamed the Pohutukawa Coast Rotary, and the Pohutukawa Coast Community Association, which formed in October 2004. The coast is named after the

pōhutukawa Pōhutukawa (''Metrosideros excelsa''), also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree, or iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the Myrtus, myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red (or occasionally orange, yellow o ...

found along the coastline.

Geography

The Pōhutukawa Coast is primarily formed from Jurassic age Waipapa Group

greywacke Greywacke or graywacke ( ) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness (6–7 on Mohs scale), dark color, and Sorting (sediment), poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or sand-size Lith ...

, as well as Holocene alluvial deposits. The coast borders the

, an area of the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Waiheke Island, Waiheke and Ponui islands.

Motukaraka Island Motukaraka Island (Auckland) (Island of Karaka) is a uninhabited island off the coast of Beachlands in Auckland, New Zealand with historical significance and a rich history of Māori occupation. The island is flat and approximately 15m ab ...

is a flat topped island 500 metres off the coast from Beachlands. It is composed of

Waitemata sandstone The Waitemata Group is an Early Miocene geologic group that is exposed in and around the Auckland Region of New Zealand, between the Whangarei Harbour in the North and the Raglan Harbour in the South. The Group is predominantly composed of deep ...

, and formed between one and two million years ago as a section of a river valley. The flat top of the island is an uplifted terrace which has undergone intertidal erosion. Three estuarine drowned river valleys can be found to the west of the coast, the Mangemangeroa Creek, Tūranga Creek and Waikopua Creek. These three estuaries are major habitats for migratory and native New Zealand birdlife. The east coast is the Whakakaiwhara Peninsula, which is the location of

. Prior to human settlement, the Whakakaiwhara Peninsula was heavily forested with ''

Beilschmiedia tawa ''Beilschmiedia tawa'', commonly known as the tawa, is a New Zealand broadleaf tree common in the central parts of the country. Tawa is often the dominant canopy tree species in lowland forests in the North Island and the north east of the Sou ...

'', ''

Beilschmiedia tarairi ''Beilschmiedia tarairi'', commonly known as taraire, is a tree of the family Lauraceae, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is a common canopy tree in lowland forests north of Auckland, often growing in association with kauri (''Aga ...

'' (taraire),

pūriri ''Vitex lucens'', commonly known as pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was described by S ...

, karaka and

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside '' Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...

trees.

Human context

Māori history

The Pōhutukawa Coast was visited by the ''

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka (canoe), waka confederation of New Zealand Māori people, Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki Māori, Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapo ...

'' migratory waka around the year 1300. The waka landed at Tūranga Creek, tethered to a volcanic rock in the shape of a man. This gave rise to the name of the creek, which means "Anchorage". Tainui followers of Manawatere, who identified as

Ngā Oho Ngā Oho, also known as Ngā Ohomatakamokamo-o-Ohomairangi, is the name of a historical iwi (tribe) of Māori who settled in the Auckland Region. In the 17th century, Ngā Oho and two other tribes of shared heritage, Ngā Riki and Ngā Iwi, form ...

, decided to settle the area between the Pōhutukawa Coast and Tūwakamana ( Cockle Bay).

, the

mana whenua In New Zealand, tangata whenua () is a Māori term that translates to "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people who's common ancestors are bur ...

of the area, descend from these early settlers. Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki traditional stories talk about the land already being occupied by the supernatural Tūrehu people, and many place names in the area reference Tūrehu figures, such as Hinerangi and Manawatere. The name Maraetai is a traditional name for the

, meaning "Marae Enclosed by the Tides", referring to how the sheltered ocean of the strait acted like a flat

marae ātea A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''wikt:wh ...

(marae entrance courtyard). The name traditionally referred to the wider area between

and the Wairoa River. Tūranga is the traditional name for the wider area around Whitford and the Tūranga Creek. Ngāi Tai people lived in seasonal encampments between the

Tāmaki River The Tāmaki River or Tāmaki Estuary is mostly an estuarial arm and harbour of the Hauraki Gulf, within the city of Auckland in New Zealand.

and Wairoa River, collecting seafood resources, cultivating crops such as

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 ...

and

taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

, snaring birds and processing karaka berries. By the 1600s, Whakakaiwhara Pā and Te Oue Pā to the south of the Whakakaiwhara Peninsula were focal points of Ngāi Tai life, where the

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the leaders (often hereditary) of a (subtribe or clan). Ideally, were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land ( ...

of the iwi were based. By the 1800s, after European contact, the rangatira of Ngāi Tai were based at

(Duders Beach). During the 1820s, most members of Ngāi Tai fled to the Waikato due to the threats of the

Musket Wars The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori people, Māori between 1806 and 1845, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an inte ...

, however by the 1830s many had returned.

Early European history

English Missionary

William Thomas Fairburn William Thomas Fairburn (3 September 1795 – 10 January 1859) was a carpenter and a lay preacher or catechist for the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) in the early days of European settlement of New Zealand. Early life He was born in Engla ...

first visited the area in 1833. In 1836, Fairburn brokered a land sale between

Tāmaki Māori Tāmaki Māori are Māori ''iwi'' and ''hapū'' (tribes and sub-tribes) who have a strong connection to Tāmaki Makaurau (the Auckland Region), and whose rohe was traditionally within the region. Among Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the M� ...

chiefs,

Pōtatau Te Wherowhero Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (died 25 June 1860) was a Māori people, Māori rangatira who reigned as the inaugural Māori King Movement, Māori King from 1858 until his death. A powerful nobleman and a leader of the Waikato (iwi), Waikato iwi of the ...

and Turia of Ngāti Te Rau, covering the majority of modern-day

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

East Auckland East Auckland () is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Settled in the 14th century, the area is part of the traditional lands of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki. The area was developed into farmland in the ...

and the Pōhutukawa Coast. The sale was envisioned as a way to end hostilities in the area, but it is unclear what the chiefs understood or consented to. Māori continued to live in the area, unchanged by this sale. Fairburn established the Maraetai Mission Station in 1837, where he taught reading, writing and spread Christianity among Ngāi Tai and

Ngāti Pāoa Ngāti Pāoa is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) that has extensive links to the Hauraki and Waikato tribes of New Zealand. Its traditional lands stretch from the western side of the Hauraki Plains to Auckland. They also settled on Hauraki Gulf islands ...

. Fairburn resigned from the mission in 1841, and the mission continued on Wiremu Hoete, until late 1843. Many Ngāi Tai and Ngāti Pāoa lived at the mission, and the farm surrounding the mission became one of the first farms in Auckland. Fairburn's Purchase was investigated by the

New Zealand Land Commission The New Zealand Land Commission was a 19th-century government inquiry into the validity of claims to land purchases by European settlers from the New Zealand Māori people made prior to 1840, when New Zealand was part of the Australian colony of New ...

in 1841 and 1842 and found to be excessive and reduced in size. The disallowed parts of his purchase were not returned to Ngāi Tai, however in 1854 a reserve was created for Ngāi Tai between the eastern shores of the Wairoa River and Umupuia. As a part of this arrangement, Ngāi Tai agreed not to settle elsewhere in the region, which meant that Ngāi Tai's tradition of seasonal settlement could not be continued. The first European settlers arrived in the area in the 1840s and 1850s. In 1842, Ngeungeu, daughter of the Ngāi Tai chief

Tara Te Irirangi Tara Te Irirangi (1780s–1852) also known as Te Tara ki Moehau or Ōtara Te Irirangi, was paramount chief of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki or Ngāti Tai, a Māori tribe of the eastern Auckland region of New Zealand , encompassing parts of the Hauraki G ...

, moved back to Umupuia with her family, after her husband, Scottish mariner Thomas Maxwell in the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for ...

, died. In September 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 federation ...

, the Ngāi Tai village of Ōtau near

Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, England. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 in 2019. It lies ...

was attacked by the British army, and the village was evacuated, living in communities at the river's mouth. For the remainder of the war, Ngāi Tai were designated as a "friendly" people by the Crown, and remained neutral in the fighting. After the Native Lands Act of 1865, the

Native Land Court Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nati ...

confiscated many Ngāi Tai lands. The remaining land was individuated, slowly sold on to European farmers. The first local government in the area was the Turanga Highway District, which began operating in 1866 around Whitford, followed by the Maraetai Highway District in 1875. From 1869 until the 1920s, the Nathan family at Whitford operated a large ostrich farm. Other farms grew oats, hay, wheat, potatoes for the Auckland market, and other industries developed, including brickworks and mines. Ngāi Tai focused life at Umupuia for the 19th Century, where a flax mill existed. In the early 20th century, a fire burnt down the mill and the meeting house, Hārata Kīngi.

Urban development

By the early 20th Century, the Pōhutukawa Coast had become a popular spot for picnics and camping. Beachlands and

were subdivided in the 1920s, growing into holiday communities. In 1929, the first bus service began, linking Maraetai, Beachlands and Whitford to Auckland. From the 1950s to the early 1970s, Beachlands and Maraetai grew significantly, transitioning from seasonal holiday towns to permanent residential communities. The Pine Harbour marina was constructed in 1988, becoming a major transport hub for the area, linking the Pōhutukawa Coast to Auckland by ferry. The Umupuia Marae was officially reopened in November 1990, and in 1997 the Formosa Golf Club opened. Between 2017 and the 2030s, the Pōhutukawa Coast Trail, a series of walking tracks linking the communities of the Pōhutukawa Coast, will be constructed. In 2022, residents of the Pōhutukawa Coast petitioned the government to build a high school for the area.

Demographics

Pōhutukawa Coast covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Pōhutukawa Coast had a population of 11,712 in the

2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...

, an increase of 1,962 people (20.1%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 3,813 people (48.3%) since the 2013 census. There were 5,805 males, 5,871 females and 39 people of other genders in 3,951 dwellings. 2.2% of people identified as

LGBTIQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

. There were 2,412 people (20.6%) aged under 15 years, 1,857 (15.9%) aged 15 to 29, 5,742 (49.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,704 (14.5%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 89.1%

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

(

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 ...

); 9.5%

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 ...

; 3.3% Pasifika; 7.7% Asian; 1.1% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.5% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.3%, Māori language by 1.2%, Samoan by 0.3%, and other languages by 12.6%. No language could be spoken by 1.8% (e.g. too young to talk).

New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL () is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights ...

was known by 0.3%. The percentage of people born overseas was 30.7, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 31.3%

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 ...

, 1.1%

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 ...

, 0.6%

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, 0.2%

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 ...

, 0.5%

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 ...

, 0.2%

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

, 0.2%

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and 1.6% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 57.4%, and 7.1% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 2,787 (30.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 4,851 (52.2%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 1,650 (17.7%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. 2,427 people (26.1%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 5,274 (56.7%) people were employed full-time, 1,344 (14.5%) were part-time, and 198 (2.1%) were unemployed.

Education

Beachlands School is a coeducational full primary school (years 1–8) with a roll of as of Maraetai Beach School is a coeducational full primary school (years 1–8) with a roll of as of There are no colleges for students aged 13–18 in the area but there are free buses providing access to schools such as Howick College and

Botany Downs Secondary College Botany Downs Secondary College is a state coeducational secondary school located in East Tamaki, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. The school opened in 2004 as a result of new residential development in the eastern Auckland area. Serving Ye ...

as well as special character schools such as

Elim Christian College Elim Christian College is a state-integrated coeducational secondary school located in Botany, New Zealand, Botany, Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1988, the school currently caters for approximately 1000 students from new entrants to Ye ...

, Sancta Maria College,

Saint Kentigern College Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. The school is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board. Established in 1953, the college is semi co-educational, with a single-gender ...

and Star of the Sea primary school.

Local government

The first local government in the area was the Turanga Highway District, which was designated in 1865 and began operating in 1866. Around Beachlands and Maraetai, the Maraetai Highway Board was first designated in 1867 and began operating in 1875. The Maraetai Road Board was absorbed into the

Manukau County Manukau County was a county of New Zealand that was established in 1876 before being re-established with a smaller boundary in 1911 that lasted until 1965, when it was amalgamated with the Borough of Manurewa to form Manukau City. History Manu ...

in 1914, followed by Turanga in 1917. On 22 November 1954, Beachlands was established as a county town within the Manukau County, followed by Maraetai on 1 April 1962. All areas of the Pōhutukawa Coast were merged into

Manukau City Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is also referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does not ...

in 1965. In November 2010, all cities and districts of the Auckland Region were amalgamated into a single body, governed by the

Auckland Council Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...

. The Pōhutukawa Coast is part of the

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

local board area, who elects members of the Franklin Local Board. Residents of Whitford also elect the

Franklin ward The Franklin Ward is the southernmost ward on the Auckland Council. The Franklin ward has one local board, also called Franklin; the Franklin Local Board has three subdivisions - Wairoa, Pukekohe and Waiuku. Franklin is currently represented by A ...

councillor, who sits on the

References

Bibliography

* {{Subject bar, auto=y, d=y * Pohutukawa Coast Geography of Auckland Hauraki Gulf Franklin Local Board Area