Location of Kaipara Harbour

The Kaipara Harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea located near the base of the North Auckland Peninsula on the western side of the North Island of New Zealand. The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, some 2000 Kilometres (1250 Miles across The North Auckland Peninsula, frequently referred to simply as the Northland Peninsula, is located in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island.

The harbour is one of the largest in the world. It is a very broad shallow harbour covering an area of 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi) and has more than 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) of shoreline. ^[1] It extends for some 60 kilometres (37 mi) from north to south, and has a 4-kilometre (2. 5 mi) wide entrance to the Tasman Sea halfway along its length. The Wairoa River has its outflow into the northern end of the harbour. New Zealand's longest Wairoa River runs for 150 kilometres through the northern part of the North Auckland Peninsula. Several large arms extend into the interior of the peninsula at the northeast of the harbour, one of them ending near the town of Maungaturoto, only ten kilometres (6 mi) from the Pacific Ocean coast. Maungaturoto is a small town in the Northland Region of New Zealand. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions

Although officially called a harbour, the Kaipara is rarely used for shipping, owing to the treacherous tides and bars at its mouth. For this reason, no large settlements lie close to its shores, although many small communities lie along its coastline.

According to tradition, the Kaipara is called after a hāngi Taramainuku hosted at Pouto in the 15th century CE, at which the para fern (Marattia salicina) was served. Hāngi ( is an ancient New Zealand Māori method of Cooking food using super heated rocks buried in the ground in a Pit oven. The Pouto Peninsula is a landform on the northern Kaipara Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. "Kai" means food in the Māori language. ^[2]

Administratively, the lower part of the harbour lies within the Auckland Region, while the upper half is within the Northland Region. Geography On the mainland the region extends from the mouth of the Kaipara Harbour in the north across the southern stretches of the North Auckland Peninsula Geography Northland is located in what is often referred to by New Zealanders as the Far North, or because of its mild climate The Winterless North.

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