North Shore, New Zealand

The North Shore ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is defined as the northern shores of the Waitematā Harbour as far north as the Ōkura River.

The North Shore is primarily uplifted Waitemata Group sandstone from the Miocene, and includes the northernmost features of the Auckland volcanic field, such as Lake Pupuke—the oldest known feature of the field. Settled by Tāmaki Māori in the 13th or 14th centuries, the Waitematā Harbour headlands became important places for harvesting seasonal resources and for controlling transportation across the region. European settlers arrived in the North Shore in the 1840s, and by the turn of the 20th century, the inland area has become a hub for fruit growing, while the eastern coast had developed into a tourism destination for Aucklanders.

The North Shore rapidly suburbanised after the construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959, and by 1989 the five local authorities in the area amalgamated to create North Shore City, which existed until 2010.

Definition and etymology

The name North Shore has been used in English as far back as 1843, and has traditionally been defined as the area north of the Waitematā Harbour as far as Lucas Creek and Ōkura River. Other areas referred to as part of the North Shore include Pāremoremo, Lucas Heights. Ōkura and Redvale, rural villages located between metropolitan Auckland and the Hibiscus Coast, are considered a part of the North Shore. Major centres on the North Shore include Albany, Birkenhead, Browns Bay, Devonport, Glenfield, Northcote and Takapuna.

and are the two most commonly used Māori names for the North Shore. () name refers to Kahu, the granddaughter of Maki, the namesake ancestor of the iwi Te Kawerau ā Maki. Kahu was among the members of Te Kawerau ā Maki who was based on the North Shore. is a name that has been in use since at least the 1980s, and is found in the names of organisations such as Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Raki Paewhenua, Te Raki Paewhenua Committee, and the health and social service organisation Te Puna Hauora o te Raki Paewhenua.

In the mid-19th century, Māori-language texts predominantly use the names Takapuna, or Awataha, to describe the North Shore. Takapuna, a name originally given to a spring at Maungauika / North Head, had gradually grown to refer to the wider southern North Shore area before the early colonial era.

Geology

thumb|left|Geology trip at [[Waiake, showing exposed Waitemata Group sandstone cliffs]]

The North Shore is primarily uplifted Waitemata Group sandstone, that was deposited on the sea floor during the Early Miocene, between 22 and 16 million years ago, and uplifted due to tectonic forces. The sedimentary layers of Waitemata sandstone can be clearly seen in the eroding cliff faces of the bays along the Hauraki Gulf.

Volcanic features

thumb|[[Lake Pupuke is a volcanic maar and the oldest known feature of the Auckland volcanic field, while Rangitoto Island (background) is the youngest]]

The North Shore is home to the northernmost features of the Auckland volcanic field. Lake Pupuke, a volcanic maar located in Takapuna, is one of the oldest known features of the Auckland volcanic field, erupting an estimated 193,200 years ago. During the eruption of Lake Pupuke, two lava flows travelled eastwards through the area, burning vegetation and encasing the lower 1–2 metres of the tree trunks in lava. The lava solidified into basalt rock, creating the Takapuna Fossil Forest, which was exposed an estimated 7,000 years ago due to coastal erosion.

There are two volcanic maars found on the eastern coastline of Northcote: Tank Farm, 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. and Maungauika / North Head, the south-east headland of the North Shore located at the mouth of the Waitematā Harbour. The third feature, Takararo / Mount Cambria, was quarried in tis entirety by the 1970s. Of these three features, Maungauika / North Head is significantly older, dated to approximately 87,000 years ago. Takararo / Mount Cambria is estimated to have erupted 43,000 years ago, while Takarunga / Mount Victoria erupted approximately 35,000 years ago. dominates the horizon for many of the bays along the eastern coast. The island is the youngest feature of the field, having erupted around the year 1,500.

Geography

thumb|[[Takapuna, suburb of North Shore]]

The North Shore comprises a large suburban area to the north of Downtown Auckland; linked to the rest of the Greater Auckland metropolitan area by two harbour bridges – the Auckland Harbour Bridge crosses the inner Waitematā Harbour to the Auckland isthmus and Auckland City Centre, while the Upper Harbour Bridge on State Highway 18 provides a connection to West Auckland, across the Upper Waitematā Harbour.

Three major estuaries of the Waitematā Harbour flow through the North Shore. Oruamo or Hellyers Creek flows through the central west North Shore, separating Glenfield and Beach Haven from Greenhithe in the north-west. Further to the north is Lucas Creek, which separates Greenhithe from Pāremoremo. Shoal Bay is found to the south, which separates Northcote from Takapuna and Devonport in the east. To the east of Shoal Bay is the Devonport peninsula. The southern Devonport peninsula was formerly a presque-isle, only joined to the mainland at Narrow Neck by a small spit, until much of Ngataringa Bay was reclaimed for the Waitemata Golf Course in the 1870s.

The highest point on the North Shore is a hill (A9L5) in the Albany hills, which is the origin point of the Ōkura River. The highest point in metropolitan North Shore is an hill (A5X2) to on Pupuke Road in Northcote, referred informally by residents in the early 20th century as Clay Hill. The hill is the location of the Pupuke Road Reservoir and Pump Station.

Climate

Flora

thumb|left|Smith's Bush is a remnant [[kahikatea and taraire forest located on the North Shore]]

Prior to human settlement, the inland North Shore area was primarily a northern broadleaf podocarp forest, dominated by kauri, tōtara, mataī, miro and kahikatea trees. Pōhutukawa trees were a major feature of the coastline. By the 19th century, much of the North Shore was primarily scrubland, vegetated by plants such as mānuka, tutu, harakeke flax and ferns.

Some kauri remnant forest remains in areas around Birkenhead, including Kauri Park and Le Roys Bush, while Smiths Bush in the Onewa Domain is a remnant native forest dominated by kahikatea and taraire trees. Fernhill Escarpment in Albany is a remnant forest which had tōtara trees estimated to be 800 years old. Toi-te-huatahi and his followers settled and intermarried with these early peoples. Around the year 1350, the Tainui migratory canoe visited the North Shore, stopping at the freshwater spring southwest of Maungauika / North Head,

Over time, many of the early Tāmaki Māori people of the North Shore identified as Ngā Oho. While the poor soils of the central North Shore acted as a barrier to agriculture and settlement, people settled the coastal margins, most notably the volcanic south-east, Long Bay (), Kauri Point in Chatswood, Numerous archaeological sites are found on the banks of the Lucas Creek and the Ōteha valley, because of its importance as a transportation node. including important rangatira such as Kiwi Tāmaki of Waiohua, and later Tarahawaiki of Ngāti Whātua.

Expansion of Ngāti Pāoa, and early contact with Europeans

thumb|Sketch depicting the North Shore in 1844 (from left): [[Mount Victoria (Auckland)|Takarunga / Mount Victoria with visible terracing, Takararo / Mount Cambria, Takamaiiwaho / Duders Hill Rangitoto Island (in distance) and Maungauika / North Head. Maungauika was a fortified Ngāti Paoa pā in the early 1790s.]]

By the early 18th century, the Marutūāhu iwi Ngāti Paoa had expanded their influence to include the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the North Shore. The ancestor Kapetaua was marooned at Te Toka-o-Kapetaua (Bean Rock) as a child by his brother-in-law Taramokomoko, Waiohua chief of Kohimarama Pā, as punishment for stealing from kūmara pits. Taramokomoko was rescued by his sister Taurua, and fled to Waiheke Island, where he spent the rest of his childhood training to become a skilled warrior. Around the year 1700, Kapetaua formed a taua and pursued Taramokomoko, leading to the sacking of pā around the North Shore, including Te Rahopara o Peretū (Castor Bay), Onewa (Northcote), and Tauhinu (Greenhithe). After periods of conflict, peace had been reached by the 1790s.

Ngāti Paoa settled in areas such as (Torpedo Bay), (Narrow Neck), and at Northcote. The leader of the northern alliance, Te Hōtete (father of Hongi Hika) settled at Takapuna for a period, returning to the north after peace with Ngāti Paoa had been made.

Early contact with Europeans in the late 18th century caused many Tāmaki Māori to die of , respiratory diseases. By the first half of the 19th century, the Upper Waitematā Harbour area near modern-day Greenhithe area was one of the most densely settled areas of the North Shore.

During the early 1820s, most Māori of the North Shore fled for the Waikato or Northland due to the threat of Ngāpuhi war parties during the Musket Wars. Pā and kāinga along the coastline were attacked, including Maungauika / North Head. Ngāti Whātua left an ahi kā presence at Tauhinu pā in Greenhithe: a small number of warriors posted to maintain claim to land.

When people returned in greater numbers to the Auckland Region in the mid-1830s, Ngāti Whātua focused resettlement in the Māngere-Onehunga area, while Te Kawerau ā Maki focused settlement at Te Henga / Bethells Beach and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki primarily focused resettlement in East Auckland and the Pōhutukawa Coast. Ngāti Pāoa primarily focused live at Wharekawa and Waiheke Island, His people were members of the te Kawerau ā Maki hapū of Ngāti Kahu and Ngāti Poataniwha, who had close associations to Ngāti Taimanawaiti (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki) and Ngāti Paoa. spending until 1873 rectifying this sale. Her husband Eruera Maihi Patuone was a Ngāpuhi chief, who spent time between different trading posts across the Hauraki Gulf, including Waiheke and Devonport. Police suspected Thomas Duder, who had followed Snow as the signalman in 1843. Duder was arrested, and later their neighbour Joseph Burns was found guilty of the murders. Burns became the first European to be executed in New Zealand. Patuone's lands at included a peach tree orchard and a village of twenty huts. On 9 July 1863, due to fears of the Māori King Movement, Governor Grey proclaimed that all Māori living in the South Auckland area needed to swear loyalty to the Queen and give up their weapons. Most people refused due to strong links to Tainui, leaving for the south, before the Government instigated the Invasion of the Waikato.

On the North Shore, a curfew was placed on all Māori vessels, and most Māori residents of the North Shore quickly left, including the kāinga at (Torpedo Bay), which European residents reported was evacuated overnight.

Fears of invasion by the expanding Russian Empire were common among New Zealanders in the 1870s, especially due to the founding of Russia's Pacific port at Vladivostok. An 1884 report by Sir William Jervois, the Governor of New Zealand, included recommendations for military forts to be constructed at the country's four main ports at Auckland, leading to the establishment of three military forts: North Head, Fort Takapuna, and Fort Victoria at Takarunga / Mount Victoria. and helped communities further north develop. The tramway soon became unpopular, this changed with the establishment of industrial areas at Wairau Valley and Barrys Point. In the 1990s, commune leaders including founder Bert Potter were charged on child sexual abuse and drug charges, During the same time period, Long Bay developed suburban housing, due to changes in zoning laws.

In 2007, the Upper Harbour Motorway was opened, creating a motorway connection between West Auckland and the North Shore. In 2008, the Northern Busway was opened along the Northern Motorway. and had an estimated population of  as of with a population density of people per km<sup>2</sup>.