Hibiscus Coast
The Hibiscus Coast is a populated area on a stretch of the Hauraki Gulf coast in New Zealand's Auckland Region. It has a population of making it the 10th most populous urban area in New Zealand, and the second most populous in the Auckland Region, behind Auckland itself. As an urban area delineated by Statistics New Zealand, the Hibiscus Coast consists of Hatfields Beach, Orewa, Silverdale and Whangaparāoa Peninsula. The Auckland Council's Hibiscus Coast subdivision of the Hibiscus and Bays includes the neighbouring communities of Waiwera and Stillwater, and Milldale in Rodney, is also described as a part of the Hibiscus Coast.
Tāmaki Māori settled the Hibiscus Coast area from at least the 13th century, utilising the resources of the Weiti River, Ōrewa River and Whangaparāoa Bay, where an important shark fishery was located. After the Kawerau warrior Maki unified many of the Tāmaki Māori people of the northern and western Auckland Region, his children and grandchildren established hapū including Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Maraeariki and Ngāti Manuhiri. Ngāti Kahu and Ngāti Pāoa from the Hauraki Gulf fought for control over the Whangaparāoa Bay shark fishery in the 18th century. After fleeing the area in the 1820s due to the Musket Wars, Ngāti Kahu returned to the Hibiscus Coast, living here until the 1870s.
The Hibiscus Coast was a part of the Mahurangi Block, forest sold to the Crown in 1841. Kauri loggers and itinerant kauri gum diggers were among the first Europeans to come to the area. The township of Silverdale, then known as The Wade, was established as a logging town along the Weiti River, and the Waiwera Hot Pools became a popular tourist attraction in the latter 19th century.
Orewa and the Whangaparāoa Peninsula became popular tourist destinations in the 1920s, when holiday baches were constructed in the area. During World War II, a New Zealand Army base was constructed at the end of the peninsula. The area rapidly developed in the 1950s and 1960s, in part due to the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and town centres were constructed in Orewa and Whangaparāoa. The 1960s saw the opening of two regional parks, Wenderholm Regional Park, adjacent to the Hibiscus Cost, and Shakespear Regional Park, at the eastern headland of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula.
The Hibiscus Coast was connected to the Auckland Northern Motorway in the late 1990s, after which further residential development occurred on the coast, most notably at Silverdale. In 2023, construction began on O Mahurangi Penlink, a new motorway to Whangaparāoa, crossing the Weiti River.
Geography
The Hibiscus Coast is an area of the northern Auckland Region, located between the Waiwera River to the north and the Ōkura River to the south, adjacent to the Hauraki Gulf. The area includes the Whangaparāoa Peninsula and Tiritiri Matangi Island, found east of the peninsula. Major communities on the Hibiscus Coast include Orewa, the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, Silverdale, and the villages of Stillwater, Hatfields Beach and Waiwera.The area is home to six rivers, estuaries and streams: the Waiwera Estuary, to the north, Ōtānerua Stream, Nukumea Stream, Ōrewa River, Weiti River, and Ōkura River to the south.
Beaches in the region are predominantly sandy, with gentle slopes. Many of these are wide and provide excellent opportunities for sunbathing, swimming, and water sports. Red Beach and Orewa are some of Auckland's best beginner surf beaches, whilst other Hibiscus Coast beaches are more suitable for swimming and families.
Tiritiri Matangi Island is an open sanctuary, and the largest island off the Hibiscus Coast. Tiritiri Matangi is located a short distance off the end of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula adjacent to the Shakespear Regional Park. Mahurangi Island is a smaller Island which sits off the mouth of the Waiwera River, the island forms part of the Wenderholm Regional Park. The smallest island on the Hibiscus Coast is Kotanui Island / Frenchmans Cap, which sits between Matakatia and Gulf Harbour Marina.
Prior to European settlement, the inland Hibiscus Coast area was densely forested, dominated by kauri, and the upper Ōrewa River catchment was a wetland. By the mid-19th century, the Whangaparāoa Peninsula was no longer forested, and was dominated by mānuka scrub and swamplands.
Climate
The Hibiscus Coast has a Warm Temperate humid subtropical on the Köppen Climate Classification System.Etymology
The name Hibiscus Coast dates from the early 1960s, when a group of Whangaparāoa and Orewa businessmen looked for an inclusive name for the developing Whangaparāoa/Orewa area. The group chose hibiscus, a non-native flower, due to its associations with beach and holiday atmospheres. Hibiscus was also used as the name of one of the minereal baths at the Waiwera Hot Pools in the early 20th century. The Hibiscus Coast Association was established in the 1960s, and lobbied against other regions of New Zealand adopting the hibiscus as a symbol. The name was officially adopted in 1971, when the Whangaparaoa Riding of the Waitemata County was renamed the Hibiscus Coast Riding.Hibiscus Coast has been translated into Māori as Te Kūiti o te Puarangi, referring to puarangi, a rare native species of hibiscus.
History
Māori history
The Hibiscus Coast area has been settled since at least the 13th century, with many of the first Māori occupants identifying as Ngā Oho. The wider area between the Ōrewa River and Mahurangi River was traditionally known as Mahurangi, named after a pā located at the mouth of the Waiwera River. Archaeological sites in the area are most densely found at Karepiro Bay, the Ōrewa River estuary and Shakespear Regional Park, at the end of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula. The Ōrewa River estuary was an important sheltered harbour, which offered marine resources such as shellfish and flounder, and connections to inland walking routes. The Tainui migratory waka is known to have visited Whangaparāoa in the 14th century, and Tahawhakatiki, nephew of Tama-te-kapua of the Arawa waka settled at Whangaparāoa.The Whangaparāoa Peninsula was an important transportation node between the wider Northland and Auckland regions, and was often used as a resting point for people travelling between the Mahurangi Harbour and Waitematā Harbour. Portages, where waka could be hauled overland between waterways, connected the Hibiscus Coast area to the Kaipara Harbour in the west. The Weiti Portage crossed overland between the Kaukapakapa River and the Weiti River, while the Aotoetoe portage travelled north between the Kaukapakapa River and the Ōrewa River. Additionally, the Waiau portage bisected the Whangaparāoa Peninsula between Tindalls Beach and Matakatia, and it is likely that another portage existed on the peninsula to the west, connecting Red Beach to the Weiti River.
Arrival of Maki
Likely in the 17th century, the warrior Maki migrated from the Kāwhia Harbour to his ancestral home in the Auckland Region. Maki conquered and unified many of the Tāmaki Māori tribes as Te Kawerau ā Maki, including those of the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast. After Maki's death, his sons settled different areas of his lands, creating new hapū, including the wider Hibiscus Coast hapū of Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Maraeariki, Ngāti Poataniwha and Ngāti Kahu.Maki's younger son Maraeariki primarily settled at the head of the Ōrewa River, and his hapū Ngāti Maraeariki grew to occupy lands between Whangaparāoa and Ōmaha. Maraeariki's children Te Utu and Kahu settled along the Whangaparāoa Peninsula. Ngāti Poataniwha formed marriage links with Ngāi Tai descendants of Taihaua and Waiohua, while Ngāti Kahu, who descend from Maraeariki's daughter Kahu, formed links with both Ngāi Tai descendants of Taihaua and Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara.
Ngāti Kahu focused settlement at Te Haruhi Bay at modern Shakespear Regional Park, due to its desirble location, and held a defensive pā, Rarowhara, at the eastern headland of the Weiti River.
Outside of Rarowhara, pā were established across the wider area, including a ring of protective pā surrounding the Waiwera hot spring, Dacre Point, Alice Eaves Scenic Reserve, Rakauananga Pā at Hobbs Bay, Coalminers Bay, Big Manly Beach and Little Manly Beach.
Shark fishery conflict and the Musket Wars
The Hibiscus Coast was the location of an important shark fishery, located between Kawau Island and the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, which was contested between iwi of the wider region. By the mid-1700s, Marutūāhu tribes from the Hauraki Gulf, especially Ngāti Pāoa, sought to control the important resource. Ngāti Pāoa established a pā on Tiritiri Matangi Island, for use during shark fishing expeditions. War between Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāti Kahu lasted until the 1790s. After a peace accord held at Mihirau at Wenderholm Regional Park was broken, Ngāti Pāoa attacked Rarowhara Pā, which Ngāti Kahu successfully defended. During this period, Kawerau-descended hapū held exclusive land rights to the Hibiscus Coast area, while fishing rights were shared between Ngāti Kahu and Marutūāhu tribes.In September 1821 during the Musket Wars, a Ngāpuhi taua ventured south to avenge past losses against Ngāti Kahu in the 1790s. The Kawerau-descendant tribes were heavily defeated, and Rarowhara Pā was sacked. Survivors fled to the Ararimu Valley, Muriwai, and eventually to the Waikato, gradually returning in the 1830s. On return, Ngāti Kahu formed intertribal marriages with Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, seasonally migrating between Orewa, Te Haruhi Bay and Ōkura. Ngāti Kahu settlement at Whangaparāoa continued until the 1870s.
After the war, prominent Ngāpuhi chief Eruera Maihi Patuone, who married Takarangi / Rīria, a high ranking Ngāti Paoa woman, seasonally stayed at Whangaparāoa with his Ngāti Paoa relatives.
Early colonial era: logging and Waiwera resort
The Hibiscus Coast area was visited by explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1827 aboard the Astrolabe. d'Urville decided to name Karepiro Bay Tofino Bay after the Spanish navigator and mathematician Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel, and the Whangaparāoa Peninsula 'Buache'. The first known European to step ashore onto the Hibiscus Coast was a missionary in 1833, and early timber merchants were attracted to the Weiti River catchment by the late 1830s.Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the Crown made the first purchases of the Mahurangi and Omaha blocks on 13 April 1841, which included the Hibiscus Coast. While some iwi and hapū with customary interests had been engaged, such as Ngāti Paoa and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, others, including Te Kawerau ā Maki, Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Rango, were not involved with transactions. This led to Ngāti Manuhiri being alienated from land on the Hibiscus Coast.
Timber felling increased along the Weiti River catchment in the 1840s, and a settlement called the Wade was established at the navigable heads of the Weiti River around the year 1853, becoming the commercial centre for the area. The first known permanent settler along the Weiti River was John Robey Cole Hatfield, who settled in 1844. By 1853, there were likely between 200 and 300 people living at the Wade. Maurice and Ellen Kelly, who operated a timber milling business, opened the Wade Hotel, which became the social centre for the town. The hotel was of ill repute among early settlers to New Zealand, known for cockfighting, dog fighting, and had a reputation for criminality. Silverdale School was established as the first school on the Hibiscus Coast in 1869.
In 1844, Robert Graham constructed a house adjacent to the Waiwera Hot Pools, publicising the hot pools as a tourist destination from 1848 onwards. In 1864, the Waiwera hot springs hotel was constructed, and by 1878 ferry services operated between Auckland and the hotel. Outside of the Wade, Ranulph Dacre acquired Weiti Station, a timber mill at modern Okura Bush Scenic Reserve in 1846, and the Polkinghorme family settled at Whangaparāoa in the 1850s, establishing a short-lived cheese factory. By the mid-1850s, the majority of accessible native forest had been logged across the region, and the Hibiscus Coast was subdivided into farming lots. Six years after the construction of New Zealand's first lighthouse, the Tiritiri Matangi Lighthouse was built in 1864. It remains New Zealand's oldest working lighthouse.
In 1856 Captain Isaac Rhodes Cooper built Orewa House with the 58th Regiment of Foot. This became the family residence of Channel Islands migrants, the de Jersey Gruts, in 1868, after the family struggled to establish a farm at Birkenhead. Orewa House was the de Jersey Grut home for three generations, becoming a commercial guest house in 1906.