| Whangamata | |
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Whangamata
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | Waikato |
| District | Thames-Coromandel District |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 3,555 |
The town of Whangamata is sited on the southeast coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 30 kilometres north of Waihi, to the north of the western extremity of the Bay of Plenty.
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The population of Whangamata was 3555 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 408 from 2001.[1] In holiday times the population swells considerably: New Year's celebrations fill the town to over 25,000 though this falls soon after New Year's Day.[2]
A number of off-shore islands can be seen from the beach. Hauturu or Clark Island is accessible by wading at low tide and is popular in summer months for rock-pool fossickers and kayakers. Whenuakura, sometimes known as Donut Island, sits about a kilometre east of the southern part of Whangamata beach (Otahu Beach). Tuatara roamed on Whenuakura until fairly recently. Whenuakura Island has a large collapsed blow hole which has formed a small beach inside the island - hence the alternative name.
The town has two ocean beaches, both of which are extremely safe for swimming and surfing. There is a safe boating harbour at the North end of the town and another estuary at the South end. Both the harbour and estuary provide good swimming for families. 15 minutes drive south of Whangamata is the quietly popular beach Whiritoa. Other beaches just north of Whangamata are Onemana and Opoutere.
There are a number of clubs, restaurants and hotels, which are able to provide meals, refreshments and entertainment for visitors.
Shibboleth: People aware of other place names of Māori origin might expect "Whangamata" to be pronounced in a similar way to such names as Waitemata and Matamata, where more stress is placed on the penultimate syllable than the final one, leaving the last 'a' as a schwa. These place names rhyme, roughly, with the English word matter. "Whangamata" goes against this rule, and the stress is placed firmly on the final 'a'. The ending thus rhymes (roughly) with the English word guitar.
The name of Whangamata comes from the mata stones (obsidian) which washed up on the beach. Whanga = bay, mata = a hard stone.
Whangamata Area School is a coeducational composite (years 1-13) school with a decile rating of 4 and a roll of 420.[3]
A controversial marina has been constructed on the Whangamata Estuary. The Whangamata estuary is the shallowest on the North Island, with approximately 75% of the estuary’s water volume leaving on the low tide. The new marina basin at low tide is below sea level. Since the consent was granted, many new, and non-notified consents have been granted, including that the boat channel no longer has to be rock walled, meaning that a great deal more marine material is to be permanently removed from the estuary's sedimentary cycle. Surfers, environmentalists and Maori have opposed the marina due to the effects upon a major wetland area and the risk to a world-class left hand surf break. An Environment Court hearing stipulated that the marina could go ahead as long as certain conditions were met. Chris Carter, a former Minister of Conservation, blocked the development but his decision was judicially reviewed by the marina developers. the decision was sent back to Conservation Minister Chris Carter, who stated that in the interests of transparency he would then give the final decision to Environment Minister David Benson-Pope, who allowed the marina to go ahead provided that strict conditions were met regarding containment of dredged materials during construction and monitoring of the world famous surf break at the estuary's entrance. Several rare species were displaced or exterminated for the development, including the rare Oligosoma moco skink. The marina opened in November 2009.[4]