Ruaotuwhenua

Ruaotuwhenua is a hill in the Waitākere Ranges of the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. At 440-metres, it is one of the tallest of the Waitākere Ranges, and the tallest of the eastern ranges adjacent to Auckland. The peak is the location of an air traffic radome, and a radio mast is located further down the slope of the hill in Waiatarua.

Ruaotuwhenua
Rua ō Te Whenua
Ruaotuwhenua seen from Puketāpapa.
Highest point
Elevation440 m (1,440 ft)
Coordinates36.924293°S 174.552759°E / -36.924293; 174.552759
Geography
LocationNorth Island, New Zealand
Parent rangeWaitākere Ranges
Geology
Age of rockMiocene

Geology

Ruaotuwhenua, along with the Scenic Drive ridge, are the remnants of one of the eastern sides of the Waitākere Volcano, a Miocene era volcanic crater complex which was uplifted from the seafloor between 3 and 5 million years ago.[1][2]

Geography

The hill is a 440-metre peak in the eastern Waitākere Ranges.[3] It is located near the settlement of Waiatarua, and is accessible by Scenic Drive. The northern side of the hill is the source for Stoney Creek, a tributary of the Opanuku Stream,[4] while the south-eastern side is a source for the Mander Creek, a tributary of the Nihotupu Stream which flows into the Upper Nihotupu Reservoir and Big Muddy Creek.[5][6]

History

Ruaotuwhenua is within the traditional rohe of the Te Kawerau ā Maki iwi, and holds significant cultural and spiritual significance.[7] "Rua ō Te Whenua" literally means "the rumble of the earth", and is likely a reference to the roaring sound of the surf which travels along the Nihotupu Valley.[8]

The hill is linked to the Te Kawerau ā Maki traditional story of Panuku and Parekura.[7] The story involves Nihotupu, a tūrehu (supernatural being) who lived in a cave at Ruaotuwhenua, who kidnapped Panuku's wife Parekura. Panuku travelled to Nihotupu's cave home to rescue his wife.[8] Many of the place names in the eastern Waitākere Ranges area reference this traditional legend.[7][8]

The hill was regarded as the highest point of the Waitākere Ranges until the early 1940s, when city waterworks engineer AD Mead located and measured the height of Te Toiokawharu.[9][10]

In the late 1960s, a radome and VHF transmission station was constructed on the hill, providing radio monitoring for Auckland Airport.[11][12]

Panorama
Panorama of Auckland, seen from the lookout east of Ruaotuwhenua.

References
  1. Hayward, Bruce (2009). "Land, Sea and Sky". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. pp. 10, 13–14. ISBN 9781869790080.
  2. Hayward, B. W. (1977). "Miocene volcanic centres of the Waitakere Ranges, North Auckland, New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 7 (2): 123–141. doi:10.1080/03036758.1977.10427155.
  3. "Ruaotuwhenua". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  4. "Stoney Creek". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  5. "Mander Creek". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  6. "Nihotupu Stream". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  7. Te Kawerau ā Maki; The Trustees of Te Kawerau Iwi Settlement Trust; The Crown (12 December 2013). "Deed of Settlement Schedule: Documents" (PDF). Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  8. Diamond, John T.; Hayward, Bruce W. (1979). The Māori history and legends of the Waitākere Ranges. The Lodestar Press. p. 34, 46. ISBN 9781877431210.
  9. "Highest Point in the Ranges". Auckland Star. Vol. LXXII, no. 183. 5 August 1941. p. 6. Retrieved 22 June 2022 – via Papers Past.
  10. "Highest Point". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 78, no. 24035. 5 August 1941. p. 8. Retrieved 22 June 2022 – via Papers Past.
  11. Wright, P.; Rutherfurd, W. (1969). "The design and construction of Auckland international airport". New Zealand Engineering. 24 (5): 147–155.
  12. Falconer, Phoebe (9 November 2010). "Ask Phoebe: Radar dome on the hill keeps pilots and controllers talking". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
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