Torbay, Auckland
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Torbay is a northern
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
of
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 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 ...
. It is located in the upper
East Coast Bays East Coast Bays is an urban area along the east coast of the North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore in New Zealand. First established as independent borough during the 1950s, East Coast Bays became contiguous with the Auckland urban area and wa ...
of the city's North Shore, and is governed by
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 ...
.


Geography

Torbay is a suburb of the North Shore of New Zealand. It is in the
East Coast Bays East Coast Bays is an urban area along the east coast of the North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore in New Zealand. First established as independent borough during the 1950s, East Coast Bays became contiguous with the Auckland urban area and wa ...
area, between the suburbs of Long Bay and
Waiake Waiake is one of the northernmost suburbs of the North Shore, in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the East Coast Bays between the suburbs of Browns Bay to the south and Torbay to the north. It has a beach (named Waiake Beach), which l ...
. The suburb has two major streams: Awaruku Creek in the north (also known as the Waikariwatoto Creek), and Deep Creek in the south. The eastern-most point of the suburb is called Toroa Point / Gull Point, and to the south of this is a bay named Winstones Cove. The area inland from Torbay is occasionally known as Torbay Heights, or Tirohanga. Torbay is also the name of the bay to the south-east of the suburb, located in
Waiake Waiake is one of the northernmost suburbs of the North Shore, in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the East Coast Bays between the suburbs of Browns Bay to the south and Torbay to the north. It has a beach (named Waiake Beach), which l ...
. The bay has a recreational beach, Waiake Beach, which has a small coastal stack
presque-isle Presque-isle (from the French ''presqu'île'', meaning ''almost island'') is a geographical term denoting a piece of land which is closer to being an island than most peninsulas because of its being joined to the mainland by an extremely narr ...
known as the Tor.
Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve The Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve is a protected area at Long Bay on the North Shore in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created by Order in Council in 1995. The shoreline of the Long Bay Regional Park and the Okura Estuary Sceni ...
is a marine reserve that borders the north-east coast of Torbay. The land at Torbay is primarily made up of
Waitemata Group The Waitemata Group is an Early Miocene group (geology), geologic group that is exposed in and around the Auckland Region of New Zealand, between the Whangarei Harbour in the North and the Raglan, New Zealand, Raglan Harbour in the South. The Gr ...
sandstone, which formed during the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
approximately 16 to 22 million years ago on the seafloor. Gradually, the seafloor was uplifted due to tectonic forces. Prior to human settlement, inland Torbay was primarily a northern broadleaf podocarp forest, dominated by
tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of Podocarpus, podocarp tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, ...
,
mataī ''Prumnopitys taxifolia'', the mataī () or black pine, is an endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island / Rakiura (47 °S) but is uncommon there. It grows up to high ...
, miro,
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 ...
and
kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori language, Māori) and white pine, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. A Podocarpaceae, podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining hei ...
trees.
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 ...
trees were a major feature of the coastline. The Awaruku Bush Reserve is a remnant
kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori language, Māori) and white pine, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. A Podocarpaceae, podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining hei ...
forest, with the oldest trees in the reserve estimated to be over 650 years old.


History


Māori history

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 North Shore was settled by
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 ...
, including people descended from 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 and ancestors of figures such as Taikehu and Peretū. During his arrival in New Zealand,
Hoturoa According to Māori tradition, Hoturoa was the leader of the ''Tainui'' canoe, during the migration of the Māori people to New Zealand, around 1400. He is considered the founding ancestor of the Tainui confederation of tribes (iwi), who now in ...
, captain of the ''Tainui'', guided the waka to the Waiake Lagoon (Deep Creek), which was a safe anchorage for the canoe. Many of the early Tāmaki Māori people of the North Shore 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 ...
. While the poor soils of Torbay hindered dense settlement, traditional resources in the area included fish, shellfish and marine birds. The headland near the Tor at the south of Torbay is a known pā site. The traditional name for the Torbay area is , meaning "Eternal Spring", referring to a pool upstream of Deep Creek known as a good location to catch kahawai. An alternative explanation of the name is that the name means "Waters of Akeake", referring to ''
Dodonaea viscosa ''Dodonaea viscosa'', also known as the broadleaf hopbush, is a species of flowering plant in the ''Dodonaea'' (hopbush) genus that has a cosmopolitan distribution in Tropics, tropical, Subtropics, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa ...
'' (akeake / broadleaf hopbush). The eastern headland of Torbay, , was the site of a defensive
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 ...
, and the mouth of Deep Creek is a
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 ...
site. Stone
adze An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in ha ...
s have been found at the river mouth, and remains of waka and paddles have been found in Deep Creek. Lonely Track Road was an overland (pathway), linking the
Lucas Creek Lucas Creek is a stream and tidal estuary of Upper Waitematā Harbour in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows through Albany on the western North Shore, and enters the Upper Waitematā Harbour between Pāremoremo and G ...
in the north-western
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 ...
to the streams of the east coast, such as the Awaruku Creek. The warrior Maki migrated from the
Kāwhia Harbour Kawhia Harbour () is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwest of Hamilton. ...
to his ancestral home in 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 ...
, likely sometime in the 17th century. Maki conquered and unified many the Tāmaki Māori tribes as Te Kawerau ā Maki, including those of the North Shore. After Maki's death, his sons settled different areas of his lands, creating new hapū. His younger son Maraeariki settled the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast, who based himself at the head of the Ōrewa River. Maraeariki's daughter Kahu succeeded him, and she is the namesake of the North Shore, ("The Greater Lands of Kahu"), Many of the iwi of the North Shore, including Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Maraeariki, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Poataniwha, Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Whātua, can trace their lineage to Kahu. By the 18th century, the Marutūāhu iwi Ngāti Paoa had expanded their influence to include the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the North Shore. After periods of conflict, peace had been reached by the 1790s. The earliest contact with Europeans began in the late 18th century, which caused many Tāmaki Māori to die of , respiratory diseases. During the early 1820s, most Māori of the North Shore fled for the Waikato or Northland Region, Northland due to the threat of war paries during the Musket Wars. Most people had returned by the late 1820s and 1830s. A traditional story involving Torbay involves Moeroa, the beautiful daughter of a local chief. Moeroa used to sit on the cliffs of the Tor, where she sung with tūī and New Zealand bellbird, korimako, and wove mats. One day, the cliffs gave way and she fell to her death, after which the island became Tapu (Polynesian culture), tapu. The events likely occurred in the early 19th century.


European settlement

In 1841, the New Zealand Government, Crown purchased the Mahurangi and Omaha blocks; an area that spanned from Takapuna to Te Ārai. The purchase involved some iwi with customary interests in the area, such as Ngāti Paoa, other Marutūāhu iwi and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, but not others, such as Te Kawerau ā Maki or Ngāti Rango. The Crown spent until 1873 rectifying this sale, by making further deals with stakeholders. The first European land owner in Torbay was John Logan Campbell, who purchased Allotment 189 (Ōkura, New Zealand, Ōkura to Browns Bay, New Zealand, Browns Bay) in 1864, believing that there was coal in the area. The search for coal was unsuccessful, so Campbell sold the land in the 1870s. Early names for the area included McGowan's Beach, Rock Isle Beach, Oneroa Bay and Deep Creek. Around the year 1880, a British farmer, Mr. Long, purchased 200 acres of land around Torbay, naming his farm Rock Island and Waiake Beach Rock Isle Beach. After he died, his land was sold to Captain Charles Cholmondeley-Smith, who grew tobacco, until the market crashed and he established the Glenvar Wine Company. Cholmondeley-Smith's sons established a sawmill, where agathis australis, kauri logs from the Coromandel Peninsula were processed, and a flaxmill was established on the property. In 1886 the first church in the area was constructed, an Anglican church called St Mary by the Sea, was constructed. Two years later, the first school in the area operated from the church. In 1897, the Oneroa post office was established at the Cholmondeley-Smith home, and the first post-mistress was Cholmondeley-Smith's daughter Kate. The first wharf was constructed circa 1880 by the Cholmondeley-Smith family, and ferries were the major means of transport well into the 1920s. In 1915, Torbay was subdivided, and 57 sections were sold as the Deep Creek Estate. By the early 1930s, the area was primarily known as Deep Creek. Due to habitual problems with mail being sent to other areas of New Zealand called Oneroa, such as Oneroa, New Zealand, Oneroa on Waiheke Island or places in the South Island called Deep Creek, the post office's name was changed to Torbay in 1933. While it is unknown what the origin of the name is, it may be a reference to Torbay in Devon, England. During World War II, Pillbox (military), pillboxes were constructed in Torbay, at Gilberd Place and at the corner of Beach Road and Long Bay Drive. Torbay developed as a suburban area of Auckland in the 1970s, after improvements were made to the Auckland Northern Motorway.


Local government

From 1876 until 1954, the area was administered by the Waitemata County, a large rural county north and west of the city of Auckland. In 1954, the area split from the county, forming the East Coast Bays Borough Council, which became East Coast Bays City in 1975. In 1989, the city was merged into the North Shore, New Zealand#Local government, North Shore City. North Shore City was amalgamated into
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 ...
in November 2010. Within the Auckland Council, Torbay is a part of the Hibiscus and Bays local government area governed by the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board. It is a part of the Albany ward (local government), Albany ward, which elects two councillors to the Auckland Council.


Amenities

Torbay is home to both the Awaruku Bush Reserve and the Stredwick Reserve. Awaruku Bush Reserve is an area of
kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori language, Māori) and white pine, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. A Podocarpaceae, podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining hei ...
bush that was preserved in the 1960s, when the suburb expanded. The oldest kahikatea tree in the reserve is estimated as being over 650 years old. Inside the reserve is an old quarry, which was abandoned in the early 1900s. Torbay is close to the Long Bay Regional Park, which attracts over a million visitors each year. There are also a number of smaller public beaches (
Waiake Waiake is one of the northernmost suburbs of the North Shore, in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the East Coast Bays between the suburbs of Browns Bay to the south and Torbay to the north. It has a beach (named Waiake Beach), which l ...
, Torbay Beach, Winstone's Cove, Ladder Bay), which are highly accessible and utilised both for swimming, and mooring small yachts.


Demographics

Torbay covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Torbay had a population of 12,069 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 60 people (0.5%) since the 2018 New Zealand census, 2018 census, and an increase of 708 people (6.2%) since the 2013 New Zealand census, 2013 census. There were 5,949 males, 6,081 females and 42 people of non-binary gender, other genders in 4,101 dwellings. 3.4% of people identified as LGBTQ, LGBTIQ+. There were 2,316 people (19.2%) aged under 15 years, 2,199 (18.2%) aged 15 to 29, 5,874 (48.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,680 (13.9%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 76.5% European New Zealanders, European (Pākehā); 6.3% Māori people, Māori; 2.8% Pasifika New Zealanders, Pasifika; 19.8% Asian New Zealanders, Asian; 2.2% 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 94.3%, Māori language by 1.3%, Samoan by 0.2%, and other languages by 26.8%. No language could be spoken by 2.0% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.3%. The percentage of people born overseas was 48.3, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 31.8% Christianity in New Zealand, Christian, 0.9% Hinduism in New Zealand, Hindu, 0.8% Islam in New Zealand, Islam, 0.3% Māori religious beliefs, 1.1% Buddhism in New Zealand, Buddhist, 0.5% New Age, 0.2% Judaism in New Zealand, Jewish, and 1.2% other religions. People who answered that they had Irreligion in New Zealand, no religion were 56.9%, and 6.3% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 2,586 (26.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 4,395 (45.1%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 1,935 (19.8%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. 1,800 people (18.5%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 5,430 (55.7%) people were employed full-time, 1,425 (14.6%) were part-time, and 225 (2.3%) were unemployed.


Education

Torbay Primary School is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational contributing Primary school, primary (years 1 - 6) school with a roll of students as at . It was established in 1954. In 2019, students of Torbay School taught younger tamariki Māori language, Te Reo and New Zealand Sign Language, sign language during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week). Glamorgan School is a coeducational contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a roll of students as of Glamorgan Kindergarten (preschool) is down the road near Glamorgan School, and has 61 students as of March 2020.


Notable residents

* Bill Airey (1897–1968), historian. * Elaine Gurr (1896–1996), doctor and advocate for general practice. * Christina McDonald (nurse), Christina McDonald (1911–1996), New Zealand nurse in World War II and Director of Nursing Services for the New Zealand Defence Force from 1958 to 1964.


References


Bibliography

* * * * {{Subject bar, auto=y, d=y Suburbs of Auckland East Coast Bays Bays of Auckland Beaches of Auckland