Shoal Bay () is a bay of the

Waitematā Harbour The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore.

Geography

Shoal Bay is located on the North Shore, separating Northcote from

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is an isthmus between Shoal Bay, New Zealand, Shoal Bay, arm of the Waitematā Harbour, and the Hauraki Gulf. Lake Pupuke, a volca ...

. It is a drowned river valley that flooded during the last glacial period. Formerly the mouth of the

Wairau Valley Wairau Valley is the valley of the Wairau River in Marlborough, New Zealand and also the name of the main settlement in the upper valley. State Highway 63 runs through the valley. The valley opens onto the Wairau Plain, where Renwick and B ...

creek, the creek changed course to

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

after

Lake Pupuke Lake Pupuke (traditionally known in Māori as Pupukemoana) is a heart-shaped freshwater lake occupying a volcanic crater (or maar) between the suburbs of Takapuna and Milford on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The heart shape is a r ...

erupted, approximately 140,000 years ago. There are two volcanic craters found on the western shores of Shoal Bay:

Tank Farm Tank Farm (sometimes Tuff Crater) is the name of a volcanic explosion crater (or maar) on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand, near the approaches to the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Geology Part of the Auckland volcanic field, it was crea ...

, also known as Tuff Crater or , joined to the south by Onepoto (also known as ). Onepoto and Tank Farm erupted an estimated 187,600 and 181,000 years ago respectively. Two streams flow into Shoal Bay. The Onepoto Stream flows east through

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

and Northcote, entering Shoal Bay south of Onewa Road. Hillcrest Creek flows east through Hillcrest and Northcote, entering the

at Shoal Bay, east of the Auckland Northern Motorway. A traditional recorded name for Hillcrest Creek is "The Drifting Canoe", a name which recalls an incident where a tapu

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 ...

drifted into the stream at high tide. A tributary of Hillcrest Stream, Awataha Stream, flowed through Northcote Central until the 1950s, when the stream was undergrounded. In 2019, work began to daylight the stream. Two beaches were formerly located along the western shores of Shoal Bay: the City of Cork Beach and Sulphur Beach. These locations were reclaimed in the 1950s, and are now located beneath the

Auckland Northern Motorway The Auckland Northern Motorway (known locally as the Northern Motorway, and historically as the Auckland–Warkworth Motorway) in the Auckland Region of New Zealand links Central Auckland and Warkworth in the former Rodney District via th ...

. Barrys Point is a headland south of Esmonde Road that extends into Shoal Bay, between Northcote and Takapuna.

History

The traditional

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� ...

name for Shoal Bay is , meaning "Long Sands"; a name which also referred to Sulphur Beach. The upper reaches of Shoal bay were called , referring to how the spring tides did not fully cover the shallow parts of the estuary. Māori settlement 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 ...

began around the 13th or 14th centuries. 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 canoe visited Northcote, stopping at , a sacred tree on the cliffs south-east of Tank Farm. The Shoal Bay area was used to harvest shellfish, and the volcanic soil at Northcote allowed for

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 ...

cultivation. was constructed at the Northcote headland at the mouth of Shoal Bay, was prized for its strategic location and view over the

, and protected fisheries and

gardens of the nearby volcanic soil. A

portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

allowed for waka to pass overland between Shoal Bay and St Leonards Bay in 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, From the 1840s, European settlers established sawmills at Shoal Bay, primarily focusing on logging the

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 ...

forests of the southern North Shore. In the same period, settlers developed brickworks along the shores of Shoal Bay, the earliest being at Stanley Bay Beach. This was followed by Phillip Callan's brickyard at Sulphur Beach in 1843. From 1848, a soap and candle factory was established on Sulphur Beach, and other early industries included timber milling and

kauri gum Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees (''Agathis australis''), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, bef ...

digging. In 1878, Auckland Chemical Works was established at Northcote, on the beach next to the brickworks. The factory processed sulphur from

Moutohora Island Moutohora Island (previously known as Whale Island) () is a small uninhabited island located off the Bay of Plenty coast of New Zealand's North Island, about north of the town of Whakatāne. The island is a remnant of a complex volcano which ...

in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

, but was unprofitable, as the amount of sulphur estimated to be on the island was overestimated. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Sulphur Beach had become a popular spot for tourists and picnickers. In the 1910s, boat building yards were established at Shoal Bay. From 1913 the bay was used to anchor coal hulks and laid-up ships. In the 1930s there was concern about the number of anchored ships. In 1959, the

Auckland Harbour Bridge The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins Saint Marys Bay, New Zealand, St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote, Auckland, Northcote on the North Shore, ...

and

were opened in Auckland, crossing the

. The motorway was constructed on reclaimed land along the western shore of Shoal Bay, leading to the destruction of Sulphur Beach and City of Cork Beach. During the 1960s, the Onepoto Basin, formerly open to the harbour, was drained and redeveloped into recreational facilities.

Environment

To the north of Bayswater, Shoal Bay is a DoC high priority site of special wildlife interest, SSWI, because of its significance for wading birds. Many shore birds graze in this significant estuary. Every year, the

bar-tailed godwit The bar-tailed godwit (''Limosa lapponica'') is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, ...

migrates from Alaska to New Zealand. About 200 come to the Shoal Bay estuary in March to feed, relax, and then return. Shoal Bay is also home to the

New Zealand dotterel The New Zealand dotterel (''Anarhynchus obscurus'') is a species of shorebird found only in certain areas of New Zealand. It is also called the New Zealand plover or red-breasted plover, and its Māori names include , , and . There are two su ...

, which builds its nests above high tide and descends to the estuary at low tide to forage.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Northcote, Auckland Bays of Auckland Kaipātiki Local Board Area Devonport-Takapuna Local Board Area North Shore, New Zealand Waitematā Harbour Takapuna Northcote, Auckland