Hatea River 1

The Hatea River Series was inspired by conversations with Bill Edwards.

“Where freshwater meets the sea there is an explosion of life and this provides the impetus for human settlement” (Bill Edwards, Northland Area Manager, Heritage New Zealand, Pouhere Taonga, Northern Advocate 2014).

The area of the Town Basin and the upper Hatea River is part of an archaeological landscape that tells the story of people settling and thriving in this rich environment. There is evidence of Maori gardening in the area, with still-intact stone garden features just up-river from the Town Basin, also middens, which provide information on what people were eating in the past. There is a very visible Maori landscape, which relates to the wider area of Te Pa O Parihaka. There is also in this landscape, some of the earliest features associated with the Pakeha settlement of Whangarei. This includes Mair’s Landing and the remains of a horse drawn tramway and coal chute onto the river. The river and Town Basin were the hub of both Maori and Pakeha settlements. It is a mix of landscapes that is reflected not only in the tangible physical remains of the past, but also in the naming of places which relates to people and events in our shared past. In the present, it is still a dynamic meeting place and a meshing of peoples … “an explosion of life”.

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