Tawharanui

Set on a remote peninsula, Tawharanui Regional Park boasts some of the Auckland region's most beautiful white sand beaches, rolling pastures, shingled bays native coastal forest and regenerating wetlands.

The 588-hectare park is New Zealand's first integrated open sanctuary (mainland island) where farming, public recreation and conservation of native species combine. The name Tawharanui refers to "the abundant bracts of the kiekie vine". The iconic Anchor Bay is named after the anchor of the Phoenix, a vessel wrecked on the Tawharanui coastline in 1879.

Tawharanui Regional Park is also an Open Sanctuary, where native plants and animals including kiwi can live and breed successfully without the threat of predators.  You can find more about Tawharanui Open Sanctuary and the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society (TOSSI) here.

History

Maori lived in this area for more than 800 years. Until the 1870s the park was occupied by a small hapu (sub tribe) of the Te Kawerau people called Ngati Raupo. Tawharanui provided a rich variety of marine and forest resources, symbolised by the saying: "He wha tawhara ki uta; he kiko tamure ki tai." - "The flowering bracts of the kiekie on the land; the flesh of the snapper in the sea." Waikokowai (Anchor Bay) provided a valued source of kokowai or red ochre, which was used for ceremonial and decorative purposes. The people lived mainly around the catchment of the Mangatawhiri Stream. Near the park entrance was a significant pa known as "Oponui" and above the stream outlet is "Pa-hi" or "lofty fortified settlement." After 1870 Tawharanui was developed as a farm by the Martin, Jones and Young families. Kauri timber was milled and shingle was extracted from the park, creating the so-called Jones Bay Lagoon. The ARC purchased the park from the Georgetti family in 1973.

Read the PDF below to find out more about the history of Tawharanui:

Wildlife

Sixteen species of native land birds and 15 species of native coastal birds are recorded for the park and its environs. Notable amongst there are the bittern, spotless crake, and fernbird from the wetlands, and the NZ dotterel, blue reef heron and variable oystercatcher on the shore.

There are also several skink species known to be present, these are copper, ornate and shore skinks.

Pateke, North Island brown kiwi, North Island robin, whiteheads, Auckland green gecko and forest gecko have all been reintroduced since the establishment of the predator proof fence.

Native bush

Tawharanui Regional Park is predominatly grazed pasture with manuka scattered throughout. Extensively milled for kauri, then cleared for manuka firewood during the late 19th century, patches of coastal forest occur only in isolated gullies of the park.

The most significant area of coastal forest occurs on the central eastern portion of the park. Kauri and rimu dominate the ridges, whereas puriri, taraire, and tawa, with less frequent rewarewa and nikau occur in the valleys.

Regenerating coastal forest occurs on the cliff edges of Jones to Three Post Bay, in the gully adjacent to Slip Paddock and near the western boundary of the park. Here, totara, kahikatea, pohutukawa and cabbage trees occur along with puriri and taraire. The pohutukawa forest is one of the best examples on coastal cliffs in the Rodney Ecological District. Pohutukawa, taraire, puriri, cabbage tree and karaka are the structure trees of the park's southern cliff edge. In the north-east, pohutukawa, manuka and flax are common.