Tiritiri Matangi Island

Tiritiri Matangi Island

Tiritiri Matangi Lighthouse and ranger station.
Tiritiri Matangi Island
Geography
Location	Hauraki Gulf
Coordinates	36°36′S 174°53′E / 36.60°S 174.89°E / -36.60; 174.89
Archipelago	New Zealand archipelago
Area	2.2 km2 (0.85 sq mi)
Administration
New Zealand
Demographics
Population	(?)

Tiritiri Matangi Island lies in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, 3.4 km (2.1 mi) east of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula in the North Island and 30 km (19 mi) north east of Auckland. The 2.2 km² (1 sq mi) island is an open nature reserve managed by the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Incorporated, under the supervision of the Department of Conservation and is noted for its bird life, including takahē, North Island kōkako and kiwi. It attracts between 30,000 and 32,000 visitors a year, the maximum allowed by the Auckland Conservation Management Strategy.

The name, meaning "tossed by the wind" in Māori, is often popularly shortened to Tiritiri. Māori mythology considers the island to be a float of an ancestral fishing net.

Coordinates: 36°36′S 174°53′E / 36.60°S 174.89°E / -36.60; 174.89

The first people to settle on the island were Māori of the Kawerau iwi. Later, members of the Ngati Paoa moved to the island, like the Kawerau partly for shark fishing until about 1700, when the Kawerau regained control and remained until forced to retreat to Waikato in 1821 when Hongi Hika attacked from the north. There were two pā, Tiritiri Matangi Pā and Papakura Pā.