History
Maori Heritage
Great Barrier Island (Aotea) has a rich history dating back to the initial settlement of New Zealand by the East Polynesian ancestors of today's Maori population. From the 1840's, the island's natural resources attracted European settlement and a number of 'boom and bust' industries, which exploited the island's forest and minerals, and the migrating whales in the surrounding areas.
The Ngati Rehua, hapu of Ngati Wai, who live on the island today, trace their association back over many centuries. Evidence of this long history is the island's many archaeological sites, generally found in coastal locations
The name 'Great Barrier' stems from its sighting by Captain James Cook in 1769, who quickly recognized the role the island played in sheltering the waters of the Hauraki Gulf.
Early Industry
Gold and silver were discovered in the 1890s and numerous shafts and adits are located in the Okupu/Whangaparapara area and elsewhere. Remains of the 1899 Oreville stamping (ore crushing) battery at Whangaraparapara, with its massive stone walls above and below the road, are an impressive reminder of the mining area.
Great Barrier's kauri forests were largely intact until the arrival of Europeans, but were logged with increasing intensity from the mid 19th to the mid 20th century. One of the island's best known historic landmarks is the Kaiarara main dam on the Kaiarara Stream below Hirakimata (Mt Hobson). Kauri driving dams were erected to drive large quantities of kauri downstream.
Another reminder of the logging days is the ruins of the Kauri Timber Company sawmill at Whangaparapara where some of the walking tracks follow the early tramlines used by the logging industry.
The remains of New Zealand's last established whaling station can also be seen here.
Early Settlers
The Harataonga Homestead (c.1906), managed by the Department of Conservation is one of a few surviving early homesteads on the island. Nearby is a small cemetery where members of the Alcock family, one of the early European settler families on the island, are buried, although a headstone to Dr Hanson is an anomaly. He is said to have been buried above the Oreville stamping battery as his workmates had drunk away the burial money sent by his family. When a headstone later arrived from England it was set up in the Alcock cemetery for convenience.
Information courtesy of Department of Conservation
