Whangaroa Harbour

Whangaroa Harbour, previously spelled Wangaroa Harbour, is an inlet at the northern coast of Northland, New Zealand. Whangaroa Bay and the Pacific Ocean are to the north. The small settlements of Totara North and Saies are on the west component of the harbour, Waitaruke on the south aspect, and Whangaroa at the east. State Highway 10 runs via Waitaruke. The name comes from the lament "Whaingaroa" or "what a long wait" of a female whose warrior husband had left for a foray to the south. The harbour changed into normal whilst growing sea ranges drowned a river valley approximately 6,000 years in the past. Steep outcrops stay from ancient volcanic rocks.

There are amazing mangrove swamps at the head of the harbour, and some of the oldest fossils in the North Island, relationship to the Early Permian about 270 million years within the past, are within the Whangaroa place. According to Maori traditions, the waka Mahuhu-ki-te-rangi explored the Whangaroa harbour all through early Maori settlement of New Zealand. The place changed into settled via the usage of manner of descendants of Te Mamaru and Mataatua waka crews.