Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto / Mercer Bay
View of Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto from the Mercer Bay Loop track
View of Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto / Mercer Bay from the Mercer Bay Loop track
Location within the Auckland Region
Location within the Auckland Region
Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto / Mercer Bay
Location within the Auckland Region
LocationAuckland Region, New Zealand
Coordinates36°58′44″S 174°28′05″E / 36.979°S 174.468°E / -36.979; 174.468 (Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto / Mercer Bay)
Ocean/sea sourcesTasman Sea

Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto / Mercer Bay is a bay on the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located south of Piha and north of Karekare.

Description

Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto / Mercer Bay is on the west coast of the Auckland Region, between Te Ahua Point and Farley Point, north-west of Karekare.[1] The bay has some of the tallest cliffs found in the Auckland Region,[2] which are over 60 metres (200 ft) high.[3]

History

The bay is within the traditional rohe of the Te Kawerau ā Maki iwi. Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto ("Place from Where Rangitoto Was Drawn") refers to a traditional story involving the ancient supernatural ancestor Tiriwa, who lifts Rangitoto Island from its location on the Tasman Sea to the Hauraki Gulf, as a show of his power to other Tūrehu.[1][4][5] Another traditional story involving the area is Te Ahua o Hinerangi, the story of Hinerangi who fell to her death at Te Ahua Point.[3]

After the land was acquired by the Crown, it was granted to a settler named Andrew Mercer, who became the namesake of the bay's English language name.[4]

The Māori language name for the bay was officially added in November 2015 by the New Zealand Geographic Board under the terms of Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Act 2015.[1][6]

The Mercer Bay Loop Track is a popular walking track along the cliffs above the bay.[4] After kauri dieback led to the closure of many Waitākere Ranges tracks, the Mercer Bay Loop Track grew significantly in popularity.[3] Numerous deaths and disappearances have been linked to the bay.[7][8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Place name detail: Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto / Mercer Bay". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Cattin, Matthew (20 October 2021). "Best of the west". Wilderness Magazine. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Is this New Zealand's most reckless selfie spot?". The New Zealand Herald. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Dench, Alison; Parore, Lee-Anne (2014). Walking the Waitakere Ranges: 45 Coastal and Bush Walks (4th ed.). Auckland: New Holland Publishers. pp. 83–85. ISBN 978-1-86966-426-8. OCLC 894037427. OL 30857674M. Wikidata Q123383221.
  5. ↑ Murdoch, Graeme (1992). "Wai Karekare - 'The Bay of the Boisterous Seas'". In Northcote-Bade, James (ed.). West Auckland Remembers, Volume 2. West Auckland Historical Society. p. 13. ISBN 0-473-01587-0.
  6. ↑ "Notice of new and altered geographic names for Te Kawerau ā Maki Treaty of Waitangi Settlement 2015". New Zealand Gazette. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Hurley, Sam (29 March 2017). "'They can't just disappear without a trace' Two women vanished from a Piha track". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Cleave, Louisa (5 September 2006). "Pause for photo ends in woman's death plunge". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
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