Tūranga Creek, also known as the Tūranga River or Tūranga Estuary, is a stream and tidal estuary 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 ...

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 ...

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. The township of Whitford was founded at the navigable headlands of the creek.

Geography

Tūranga Creek is a drowned valley system. The creek begins in

Flat Bush Flat Bush (also known as Ormiston or Flatbush) is a southeastern suburb in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It has recently become one of the city's largest new planned towns after being developed as an urban area of Auckland for several de ...

near the intersection of Michael Bosher Way and Redoubt Road, flowing northwards to Whitford and out to 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,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 ...

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, Tūranga, which means "Anchorage". The anchor can still be found today, and is a 1.5 metre in diameter

siliceous sinter Geyserite, or siliceous sinter, is a form of opaline silica that is often found as crusts or layers around hot springs and geysers. Botryoidal geyserite is known as fiorite. Geyserite is porous due to the silica enclosing many small cavities. Si ...

found in the mudflats near Clifton Road. 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).

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 ...

, 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. Tūranga became the name of the hill overlooking the west bank of the estuary, and the name was applied to the

pā 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

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 ...

of the estuary. The creek area was known as a traditional source for eels (tuna),

lampreys Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are a group of Agnatha, jawless fish comprising the order (biology), order Petromyzontiformes , sole order in the Class (biology), class Petromyzontida. The adult lamprey is characterize ...

(kanakana) and

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuary, estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related speci ...

(pātiki). When

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 ...

visited the area in 1833, it was mostly unoccupied due to the events 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 ...

, as most members of Ngāi Tai had fled to temporary refuge in the

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

. In 1836, Fairburn purchased 40,000 acres between

Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tāmaki River estuary to the east. The Auckland isthmus is the narrowest connect ...

and Umupuia ( Duders Beach), including much of the catchment of the Wairoa River. 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 around

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 town of Whitford was established on the creek in the 1840s by European settlers. The creek was the main transport link for the town to the outside world until the 1920s, when road transport became more popular. In the late 1870s, John Granger established a brickworks along the shores of the creek. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, home guard soldiers dug trenches along the creek.

Amenities

Wades Walkway, also known as the Whitford Path, starts in Whitford, and follows the western banks of Tūranga Creek.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Authority control Estuaries of the Auckland Region Hauraki Gulf catchment Franklin Local Board Area Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Rivers of Auckland