Ripiro Beach Explained

Type:Beach
Ripiro Beach
Other Name:Ripirō Beach
Photo Alt:Ripiro Beach, looking south from near the hamlet of Baylys Beach
Map:New Zealand
Relief:true
Label Position:left
Location:Northland Region
Water Bodies:Tasman Sea

Ripiro Beach is a sandy stretch on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand, extending from the Maunganui Bluff in the north down the Pouto Peninsula to the Kaipara Harbour in the south.

At 66 miles (107 km) long it is the longest driveable beach in New Zealand, longer than the more famous, but erroneously named Ninety Mile Beach further north.[1] It is straight, and backed by high sand dunes for most of this length. The beach incorporates the coastal settlements of Baylys Beach, Glinks Gully and Omamari.

The swamp at Omamari was drained in 1898, in order for the area to be dug for kauri gum.[2]

This beach is home of the famous local shellfish delicacy called the toheroa. Overexploitation in the 1950s and 1960s caused the population of the shellfish to decline enough that public gathering of the shellfish is now prohibited.[1]

It is the site of numerous shipwrecks, with 110 confirmed shipwrecks on the Ripiro Beach and neighbouring Kaipara Harbour recorded between 1834 and 1994.[3] Notable ships wrecked on Ripiro Beach include the French Corvette L'Alcmene (1851)[4] [5] [6] and the yacht Askoy (1994).[7] [8] [9] [10]

History

In either 1807 or 1808 at Moremonui Gully where it enters Ripiro Beach, 19 kilometres (12 miles) south of Maunganui Bluff Ngāti Whātua ambushed Ngāpuhi in the Battle of Moremonui, the first Māori battle to involve muskets,[11] initiating a larger conflict which became known as the Musket Wars.[12] [13] [14] [15]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Carbery . Sara . Te Kaitiaki Toheroa . 1 August 2018.
  2. Book: Hayward . Bruce W. . Bruce Hayward . Kauri Gum and the Gumdiggers . The Bush Press . 1989 . 0-908608-39-X . 11.
  3. Web site: Quakes and big tides work for wreck spotter. 2021-07-08. NZ Herald. en-NZ.
  4. Web site: The story of the wrecked L'Alcmene . Stuff.
  5. Web site: ‘Mad’ Tom Davey’s other granddaughter, Mary Scott . Pauline Conolly.
  6. Web site: Shipwreck Databases . Western Australian Museum.
  7. Web site: Askoy II refloated in Belgium 30 years after being wrecked on Northland beach . The Northern Advocate.
  8. Web site: Battered Askoy II ready for big voyage home . NZ Herald.
  9. Web site: Askoy II remains stranded . Stuff . January 31, 2009.
  10. Web site: Iconic ship released from sand . Stuff . January 31, 2009.
  11. Book: Crosby, R. D. . The musket wars : a history of inter-iwi conflict, 1806-45 . 1999 . Reed . 0-7900-0677-4 . Auckland [N.Z.] . 43432437.
  12. Book: Cloher, Dorothy Urlich . Hongi Hika: Warrior Chief . 2003 . Penguin . 0670045446 . Auckland . 52–57.
  13. Book: Smith, S. Percy . Maori Wars of the Nineteenth Century . 1910 . Whitcombe and Tombs Limited (republished in New Zealand Electronic Text Collection) . 31–49 . Moremo-nui, 1807 . Percy Smith (ethnologist) . http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-SmiMaor-t1-body-d3.html . 23 April 2017.
  14. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/musket-wars/beginnings "Musket Wars: Beginnings"
  15. http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/h/he-hinatore-ki-te-ao-maori-a-glimpse-into-the-maori-world/part-1-traditional-maori-concepts/utu/ "Traditional Maori Concepts, Utu" Ministry of Justice website

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