Mahurangi River
| Mahurangi River | ||
 Mahurangi Harbor |
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| Data | ||
| location | Auckland Region , North Island (New Zealand) | |
| River system | Mahurangi River | |
| origin | Confluence of Left and Right Branch 36 ° 24 ′ 21 ″ S , 174 ° 38 ′ 28 ″ E |
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| muzzle | Mahurangi Harbor Coordinates: 36 ° 25 ′ 28 " S , 174 ° 41 ′ 32" E 36 ° 25 ′ 28 " S , 174 ° 41 ′ 32" E |
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| Mouth height |
0 m
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| Communities | Warkworth | |
| Navigable | No | |
| Mahurangi River (Left Branch) | ||
| origin | Confluence of two streams northwest of Warkworth 36 ° 23 ′ 10 ″ S , 174 ° 38 ′ 2 ″ E
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| Mahurangi River (Right Branch) | ||
| origin | Confluence of two streams south of Warkworth 36 ° 26 ′ 30 ″ S , 174 ° 39 ′ 9 ″ E
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The Mahurangi River is an estuary on the North Island of New Zealand . It flows into the Mahurangi Harbor , which in turn flows into the outer Hauraki Gulf . The Mahurangi Harbor is navigable and, with its coves and islands a protected anchorage. The water level of the river itself, on the other hand, is strongly tide-dependent and ranges from below 50 cm (mean low water) at the mouth to the port to 1.5 m further upstream. At high tide, the river is also navigable for larger boats.
In the past, the river was the main link between Warkworth parish and the rest of the world. A Portland cement factory was established next to the river in 1884 because it was easy to export by sea. The ruins can be seen upstream of the boat harbor.
Warkworth, originally Brown's Mill , is named after a sawmill that Brown built on the Mahurangi when the area was still a logging camp. The wood, often kauri , was exported to Australia across the river. Sandstone from New South Wales , Australia, was loaded as ballast and dumped in the estuary, where large quantities can still be found today. Southern right whales come to the bay to rest or to calve.
There are two boatyards on the Mahurangi River, one at the ruins of the cement works and one further upstream near Warkworth. Both have options for getting large and small boats out of the water and storing them on land. There is also a pier at a pontoon on the bank, but here the river almost dries up at low tide.
There are a number of waterfalls in the river, the navigable part of the Mahurangi River ends at the lowest falls west of Warkworth. Two dams and several bridges have been built here since the 1860s. Today there is a concrete bridge from 1971, on which originally a light railway ran, this is now a pedestrian bridge, and a two-lane road bridge of more recent date. The SH 1 crosses the river about 250 m southwest of it on its own bridge.
Individual evidence
- ^ Mahurangi Cement Works (Ruins) . IPENZ Engineering Heritage. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
- ^ Herbert J Keys: Mahurangi: the story of Warkworth . Cameo Press, New Zealand 1954.
- ↑ A. Reid, VLHalderen: Impact of Deep Sea Oil - Development on New Zealand marine wildlife . Department of Zoology . University of Otago 2013, accessed October 26, 2014