Waitemata habour

Using Te Ara -

The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

1. Waitemata Harbour

L.I. Develop our knowledge of Auckland and the Tamaki River.

Familiarise ourselves with an online NZ encyclopaedia.

Use our skimming and scanning skills.

Use this link to open Te Ara

Enter Waitemata into the search box and use that page to answer these questions.

What sort of landform is the Waitemata harbour?

Drowned river valley

Why was it chosen to be New Zealand’s capital?

Lieutenant-Governor Hobson’s choice of a site for New Zealand's capital in 1840.

What does Waitemata mean?

Obsidian waters

Tell me one interesting fact about each of these features of the Waitemata: Waitemata is now called the Habour bridge.

Auckland’s chief port - The first of a series of land reclamations to expand the port area began in 1859.

Viaduct basin - The Viaduct Basin,  was redeveloped in the mid-1990s.

Westhaven - Westhaven Marina is the largest managed marina in Australaisa.

Harbour bridge - The Auckland habour bridge is 1,020 m long.

Greenhithe bridge - The greenhite bridge was bulit in 1995.

Natural features - Natural features of the Waitematā include Meola reef also known as Te Tokoroa, meaning ‘a long reef’, a rocky sub-marine promontory.