Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock

Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock is an island at the mouth of the Manukau Harbour, at Whatipu in the Waitākere Ranges area.

Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock

Native name: Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe
Geography
Location	Auckland
Coordinates	37°03′02″S 174°30′13″E
Adjacent to	Manukau Harbour, Tasman Sea
Highest elevation	29 m (95 ft)
Administration
New Zealand

Geology

The island is a volcanic plug of the Miocene era Waitākere Volcano, composed of stratified rudite and intrusive andesite.^[1] The rock is what remains of one of the volcano's funnel-shaped vents on the eastern side of the mountain, which was uplifted from the sea between 3 and 5 million years ago.^[2] The island is a volcanic plug of the Miocene era Waitākere Volcano, composed of stratified rudite and intrusive andesite.^[1] The rock is what remains of one of the volcano's funnel-shaped vents on the eastern side of the mountain, which was uplifted from the sea 17 million years ago.^[2] As the volcano aged and eroded, the vent filled with collapsed lava, scoria and volcanic bombs, until it formed into its modern-day shape.^[3]

History

The traditional name for the rock, Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe, refers to the Polynesian navigator Kupe. According to Te Kawerau ā Maki oral history, Kupe chanted a karakia (ritual song) and cast his marowhara (traditional clothing) into the sea, causing the Tasman Sea to become too rough for his pursuers to catch up to him.^[4][5]

The island was referred to by various variations of the name Ninepin Rock by European settlers, including Ninepins Rock and The Nine Pins.^[5] In the mid-19th century, Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock was an island at high tide, however over time joined the mainland, due to the changing sand dunes of Whatipu.^[6]

In the 1860s, a signal mast was constructed on Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock, to aid the logging communities of the area,^[7] and ships that navigated the mouth of the Manukau Harbour. The island is now the location of a trig station.^[8]

References

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Hayward, Bruce W. (2017). Out of the Ocean, Into the Fire. Geoscience Society of New Zealand. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-473-39596-4.
4. 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. pp. 7–28. ISBN 0-473-01587-0.
5. "Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
6. McLean, RF (1978). "Recent coastal progradation in New Zealand". Landform Evolution in Australasia: 168–196.
7. McK. Pegman, Andrew P.; Rapson, G. L. (2005). "Plant succession and dune dynamics on actively prograding dunes, Whatipu Beach, northern New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 43 (1): 223–244. doi:10.1080/0028825X.2005.9512952. S2CID 85119481.
8. "Ninepin". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 21 May 2022.