Waiuku

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Waiuku from the air

Waiuku is a small country town in the Franklin District, in the North Island of New Zealand.

The town is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour. It is 40 kilometres southwest of Auckland city centre, and 12 kilometres north of the mouth of the Waikato River.

The town serves to support local farming, and is the residence of many employees of New Zealand Steel at Glenbrook, which is four kilometres to the northeast.

1 Statistics
2 History
3 Attractions
4 Famous Waiukans
5 External links

[edit] Statistics

According to the 2001 census The usually resident population count for Waiuku was 6,669.

26.5 percent of people in Waiuku were under the age of 15 years compared with 22.7 percent for all of New Zealand.

11.4 percent of people in Waiuku were aged 65 years and over compared with 12.1 percent for all of New Zealand.

26.6 percent of people aged 15 years and over in Waiuku had a post-school qualification, compared with 32.2 percent for New Zealand as a whole

86.2 percent of people in Waiuku said they belong to the European ethnic group, compared with 80.1 percent for all of New Zealand.

The median income of people in Waiuku is $19,200, compared with $18,500 for all of New Zealand.

The unemployment rate in Waiuku was 6.4 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for all of New Zealand.

The most popular occupational group in Waiuku was Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers (15.0 percent). The most popular occupational group for New Zealand as a whole was Service and Sales Workers (14.8 percent).

The average household size in Waiuku was 2.7 people, compared with 2.7 for all of New Zealand.

96.5 percent of households in Waiuku had access to a telephone, compared with 96.3 percent for all of New Zealand.

32.7 percent of households in Waiuku had access to the internet, compared with 37.4 percent for all of New Zealand.

93.1 percent of households in Waiuku had access to a motor vehicle, compared with 89.9 percent for the whole of New Zealand.

There were 2,367 households in Waiuku.

For dwellings that were rented, the average weekly rent paid for permanent private dwellings in Waiuku was $180, compared with $174 for New Zealand as a whole.

72.3 percent of dwellings in Waiuku were owned with or without a mortgage, compared with 67.8 percent for all of New Zealand.

The local Iwi of Waiuku or tangata whenua of Waiuku are Ngaati Te Ata.

[edit] History

The Māori name Waiuku comes from a legend that two prominent brothers, Tamakae and Tamakou, vied for the hand of a beautiful high-ranking Waikato chieftainess. Tamakae was the cultivator, provider and Tamakou the orator. Tamakou was the first to meet her, but she requested that Tamakae be presented to her. He was working in the kumara gardens and had to be washed in the wai (water) and uku (a particular type of mud) at the stream that flows into the Manukau Harbour just behind the Waiuku Museum, before he was able to meet her. Tamakae won her heart and married her. From then the place was named Waiuku.

Waiuku came into existence as a port in about 1843, on the then important trade route between Auckland and the agricultural area of the Waikato. It was also the terminal of an ancient Maori portage between the Waikato River and the Manukau Harbour. Waiuku was marked out by the Government as a town in 1851. During the Waikato War (1863–64), Waiuku became a frontier stockade guarded by a blockhouse. The Waikato War ended the traffic responsible for the early development of the town as a trading post. Waiuku later grew as a farming centre under road board administration, and in 1914 became a town district. It was constituted a borough in 1955, and subsequently amalgamated into the Franklin District Council [in 1988]. A major development for the town was the Government sponsored establishment, from the mid 1960s, of New Zealand's first steel plant at Glenbrook to convert ironsand brought from the black sand deposits at Waikato Heads into steel. After many changes of ownership and name, the company has returned to being called New Zealand Steel and is a division of Bluescope Steel of Australia. The company continues to be a major employer in and influence on the town.

[edit] Attractions

The local pub, called The Kentish Hotel, is New Zealand's longest continuously licenced hotel. It was built by one of the first European settlers in Waiuku, Edward Constable, as an inn in 1851. His presence can still be felt in the name of the pub (he was from Kent), and the street behind it - Constable Road. The Kentish, with its ornate verandahs, provides a historical centre point to the town and the nearby Tamakae Reserve.

At the entrance to the Reserve stands a striking statue of Tamakae carved from swamp kauri logs. The logs were found during some excavation work at New Zealand Steel and gifted to the local iwi (tribe), Ngati Te Ata. The Reserve also has a small historic “village” with several restored buildings including Hartmann House, dating back to 1886, now operating as a local craft studio, Pollock Cottage (1890), Waiuku Jail (1865) and The Creamery (1890’s). The nearby Waiuku Museum has colonial era memorabilia, Māori artifacts, old sailing boats and historic photographs. A Heritage Trail around town points out further sites of historic interest in Waiuku including Wesley Methodist Church (1883) from where visitors to the town can get a panoramic view across Waiuku and the waterfront reserve.

Neighbouring attractions include the West Coast black sand beach of Kariotahi and the Glenbrook Vintage Railway.

Several cafes and restaurants are now open at the weekends. An increasing number of Waiuku shops are opening longer on Saturdays and many on Sundays too with a wide range from boutique fashion stores to antique and artifact stores, a traditional Butcher/Fishmonger, hardware store, handmade solid furniture store and even a macadamia “chocolatier and ice-cream” maker. A “veggie and craft” market runs on the first and 3rd Saturday of each month (9am-2pm).