Whitianga (pronounced "Fitianga") is the main settlement of
Mercury BayMercury Bay is a large V-shaped bay on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. The bay's mouth is ten kilometres in width, and its rugged coastline covers some 20 km....
on the
North IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. The population was 3768 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 690 from 2001.
Since 2001 there has been an increased development of new commercial areas, as well as dwellings. Two distinct trends can be seen in the development of accommodation.
- Apartments are being developed in several locations, many overlooking the harbour.
- A canal development has commenced providing a waterways environment, houses being located along canals allowing marine access from the estuary.
Whitianga has been continuously occupied for more than a thousand years since Maori explorer
KupeIn the Māori mythology of some tribes, Kupe was involved in the Polynesian discovery of New Zealand.-Contention:There is contention concerning the status of Kupe. The contention turns on the authenticity of later versions of the legends, the so-called 'orthodox' versions closely associated with S....
’s tribe settled here after his visit in about 950 AD.
Whitianga (pronounced "Fitianga") is the main settlement of
Mercury BayMercury Bay is a large V-shaped bay on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. The bay's mouth is ten kilometres in width, and its rugged coastline covers some 20 km....
on the
North IslandThe North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. The population was 3768 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 690 from 2001.
Social
Since 2001 there has been an increased development of new commercial areas, as well as dwellings. Two distinct trends can be seen in the development of accommodation.
- Apartments are being developed in several locations, many overlooking the harbour.
- A canal development has commenced providing a waterways environment, houses being located along canals allowing marine access from the estuary.
Maori History
Whitianga has been continuously occupied for more than a thousand years since Maori explorer
KupeIn the Māori mythology of some tribes, Kupe was involved in the Polynesian discovery of New Zealand.-Contention:There is contention concerning the status of Kupe. The contention turns on the authenticity of later versions of the legends, the so-called 'orthodox' versions closely associated with S....
’s tribe settled here after his visit in about 950 AD. Following this visit, many of
KupeIn the Māori mythology of some tribes, Kupe was involved in the Polynesian discovery of New Zealand.-Contention:There is contention concerning the status of Kupe. The contention turns on the authenticity of later versions of the legends, the so-called 'orthodox' versions closely associated with S....
's tribe settled here. Te Whitianga a Kupe is the original place name of the town, meaning
KupeIn the Māori mythology of some tribes, Kupe was involved in the Polynesian discovery of New Zealand.-Contention:There is contention concerning the status of Kupe. The contention turns on the authenticity of later versions of the legends, the so-called 'orthodox' versions closely associated with S....
's crossing place. There is still a passenger only ferry crossing from Whitianga to Ferry Landing, close to Cooks Beach. The alternative to the two minute ferry crossing is a 45 minute drive.
Captain Cook's visit - 1769
The people of
Hei commemorated their leader in a few place names, one being the bay at the head of which he had settled, Te Whanganui A Hei, (the Great Bay of Hei). This large sheltered bay was later renamed by Captain James Cook when he came here in November 1769 to observe the transit of
MercuryFor the liquid metallic element, see Mercury .Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three...
. Cook was accompanied by
Charles GreenCharles Green was a British astronomer, noted for his assignment by the Royal Society in 1768 to the expedition sent to the Pacific Ocean in order to observe the transit of Venus and the transit of Mercury, aboard James Cook's Endeavour.A farmer's son, he became assistant to the Astronomer Royal...
, the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, or even the Royal, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is considered by most to be the oldest such society still in existence...
expedition astronomer who died on the homeward journey in 1771.
From
Cook'sCaptain James Cook, FRS RN , was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy...
journal - "my reasons for putting in here were the hopes of discerning a good harbour and the desire I had of being in some convenient place to observe the Transit of Mercury, which happens on the 9th instant and will be wholly visible here if the day is clear between 5 and 6 o'clock." Cook also named the Whitianga Harbour "River of Mangroves" and this area is still referred to as "The River".
The sighting of the Transit of Mercury is commemorated at Cooks Beach by a cairn of Coromandel granite which tells the story ; "In this bay was anchored 5 Nov 1769,
HMS EndeavourHMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771....
, Lieutenant James Cook RN, Commander. He observed the transit of Mercury and named this bay."
European Settlement
The original European settlement was situated on the opposite side of the river from approximately 1836 to 1881.
Geography
Whitianga is located on the Eastern side of the
Coromandel PeninsulaThe Coromandel Peninsula lies in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Waikato region and extends 85 kilometres north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier to protect the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean to the...
, 208 km from
AucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with a population approaching 1.4 million residents, percent of the country's population. Demographic trends indicate that it will continue to grow faster than the rest...
, 93 km from
ThamesThames is a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the Firth of Thames close to the mouth of the Waihou River, at . The town is the seat of the Thames-Coromandel District Council.The town was initially built during a gold rush,...
, 42 km from
TairuaThe town of Tairua is on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Tairua River on its north bank and on the small Paku Peninsula...
. It is situated on the coast of
Mercury BayMercury Bay is a large V-shaped bay on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. The bay's mouth is ten kilometres in width, and its rugged coastline covers some 20 km....
, the body of water stretching from the
Mercury IslandsThe Mercury Islands lie off the northeast coast of New Zealand's North Island. They are located eight kilometres off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, and 35 kilometres northeast of the town of Whitianga....
in the north to approximately
TairuaThe town of Tairua is on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Tairua River on its north bank and on the small Paku Peninsula...
.
Industry
Historically Whitianga was a centre for boat building, kauri milling, flax milling, gold mining and
gum diggingKauri forests once covered most of the upper North Island of New Zealand; the change of climate, geological activity and the impact of Maori and European settlers had led to much deforestation, with some areas reverting to sand dunes, scrub or swamp, but these ancient kauri fields continued to...
. For many years, it was a leading timber port, with sailing ships from
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
coming to load timber. Overseas vessels of 2000 tons with a draught of 18" and carrying with their decks loads over a million feet of timber worked the harbour entrance. The larger ships were towed into the port from near Centre Island. Over a period of sixty years, it is estimated over 500 million feet of kauri was exported from the Whitianga district.
The first kauri gum was exported in 1844. It reached its peak in 1899 when over 11,000
long tonLong ton is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries. It has been mostly replaced by the tonne, and in the USA by the short ton. It is equal to or of salt water with a...
s of gum was exported at an average of $120 per ton.
Today Whitianga serves as a small regional centre for the eastern side of the
Coromandel PeninsulaThe Coromandel Peninsula lies in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Waikato region and extends 85 kilometres north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier to protect the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean to the...
/
Mercury BayMercury Bay is a large V-shaped bay on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. The bay's mouth is ten kilometres in width, and its rugged coastline covers some 20 km....
area and is a focal point for local fishing, farming and tourism industry.
Education
Mercury Bay Area School is a coeducational composite (years 1-15) school with a
decile ratingDecile, Socio-Economic Decile or Socio-Economic Decile Band is a widely used measure in education in New Zealand used to target funding and support to more needy schools....
of 6 and a roll of 759. The first primary school opened in the area in 1872. A District High School opened in 1951 and moved to the present site two years later. In February 1977 it became an area school where it now is New Zealand's largest Area School.
External links