Caroline Phillips' book: Waihou Journeys is a key reference for the history of the Waihou River.
Dr Phillips' work involved a detailed reconstruction of the environment at the time the events happened geomorphology , and the archaeology of the Waihou area i. Roger Strong's article: James Cook in the Coromandel in the Treasury Journal Volume 7 is a good historical summary of Cook's travels in the wider Coromandel region.
A very useful compendium of the journals of Cook, Banks and Parkinson, and the official record of Cook's first Pacific voyage, written by Hawkesworth , is presented by The National Library of Australia. An extract from Hawkesworth , covering the period Cook was in the Firth of Thames area, during November , is at Appendix 1. Numerous modern references state that the Endeavour was anchored in the Firth of Thames, somewhere off Te Puru or Waiomu. The key historical information relating to this is as follows - emphasis added: After having run about five leagues from the place where we had anchored the night before, our depth of water gradually decreased to six fathoms ; and not chusing sic to go into less, as it was tide of flood, and the wind blew right up the inlet, I came to an anchor about the middle of the channel, which is near eleven miles over ; after which I sent two boats out to sound, one on one side, and the other on the other.
The boats not having found above three feet more water than we were now in, I determined to go no farther with the ship, but to examine the head of the bay in the boats; for, as it appeared to run a good way inland, I thought this a favourable opportunity to examine the interior part of the country, and its produce.
At day-break, therefore, I set out in the pinnace and long-boat, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia; and we found the inlet end in a river, about nine miles above the ship The key navigational points are: the ship was anchored in 6 fathoms of water, at a spot about nine miles from the mouth of the Waihou River and Cook's chart for the area is at Fig 2 below. The above chart was published in David The source of this digital image was Wikimedia Commons. The scale on the borders of Cook's main chart of New Zealand has the annotation: 'A scale of leagues to a degree'.
As one nautical mile represents one minute of arc, i. The scale in the left margin of the River Thames and Mercury Bay chart Fig 2 shows 15 minutes of latitude is identical to 5 leagues, so the scale of this chart is also in nautical miles.
Volume 12 (12222)
It appears that these units are also used in the text of the Journals, as the distances given match those measured from the charts. The latitude-longitude grids marked on the margins of Cook's River Thames chart Fig 2 are clearly different from modern coordinates. For example, according to the chart's coordinates, the present-day town of Thames would be located at Although half a degree 30 minutes difference in longitude may seem insignificant, it actually represents approx 50 km on the ground as one minute of arc represents one nautical mile.
Measuring longitude was considered a difficult problem in Cook's time, and he used several different methods on his voyages e. The 10 degree discrepancy in latitude appears to be a drafting error on the part of the cartographer, as Cook's main chart of NZ shows the latitude of Thames as being around 37 degrees south.
In an attempt to determine the location of the anchorage with some degree of accuracy, a modern nautical chart NZ , Firth of Thames was downloaded from the LINZ web site as a. Depths on the modern chart are shown in metres and decimals of metres for lower readings. The anchorage depth of 6 fathoms 36 ft is equivalent to 11 metres. The Waihou 'river mouth' used in the constructions was the estimated mouth, as determined by Phillips This is around the junction of the Waipapa Stream and the Waihou, between Te Totara and Kopu about 1 nautical mile south of the present mouth. The first step was plotting an arc of 9 nms from the Waihou river mouth the mouth.
This arc is about 1. The depth variable is likely to be unreliable; as a result of silting due to the draining of the Hauraki Plains c. Therefore, the 'half-way across the channel' data was used, to determine an estimated anchorage location, as per the following figure. Both possible locations have been included by depth and by distance from the mouth - see Fig 4 below. In an attempt to see how the above estimates compares with Cook's chart, the latter was imported into Google Earth as an overlay, and the coastlines lined up as best as possible.
The results are shown in Figure 5 above.
The anchorage location as per Cook's chart is very close to both estimates almost identical to the 9 nm from river mouth construction. This gives a best estimate of the location of Endeavour's anchorage from the data used above as about 3. The reconstruction also demonstrates the high quality of Cook's original survey work. On 21st November , Cook, Banks and a party of about 10 others made a trip from the Te Puru anchorage, up the Waihou River, in two small ship's boats.
They record that they saw, and visited, an occupied pa site a short way up the river. The historical information relevant to this site is as follows Hawkesworth : ' Before we had proceeded more than one third of that distance, we found an Indian town , We accepted the invitation The author's photo and re-creation Click to enlarge the photo. In view of the archaeological record for the lower Waihou river, the latter makes more sense, and 3.
The nearest pa to this location would not fit the Journal description of the pa visited: ' Support for Oruarangi pa as the landing site is provided by Phillips and Best. Further evidence which supports Oruarangi as the pa site visited comes from the Journal entry regarding the return down-river to the ship: ' Best provides evidence that the Waihou River was split into two channels, around Tuitahi Island, adjacent to the site of Oruarangi pa see Figs 22 and A natural change in the course of the river meant that this channel had largely disappeared by A map of the Hauraki Plains Fig 10 shows Tuitahi Island still existing at that time, although the channel to the east of it had significantly narrowed.
Oruarangi is also supported as the site for the pa visit by evidence given to the Waitangi Tribunal, as summarised in the WAI 'Hauraki Claim' report: 'We are greatly concerned at the desecration of the Oruarangi pa site and the lack of protection offered to prevent the desecration once the Crown was aware it was taking place. When the ancient pa visited by Captain Cook in A memorial to Cook and his party was erected near the original Kopu Bridge opened , to mark the approximate site of Cook's first landing on the Waihou River, to visit a pa.
Government department correspondence Dept of Internal Affairs memo dated 15 November outlines the rationale for the choice of site for the memorial: 'River Thames: It is impossible to ascertain exactly where Cook landed. Cook's Journal Wharton page records: 'We found the inlet end in a river, into which we entered with the first of the flood and before we had gone three miles up it found the water quite fresh.
We saw a number of natives and landed at one of their villages A spot approximately three miles from the mouth of the river is therefore indicated, and the suggestion is a suitable spot close to the river on the main road near Kopu be arranged [for the memorial]. The kahikatea tree, which you mention, was seen by Cook after his second landing, about 12 to 14 miles up the river. It appears the memorial site chosen was more related to visitor access than historical accuracy which is considered reasonable. The history of the memorial is as follows: 'The stone to build this monument was obtained from a quarry on the Kauaeranga Valley Road.
The design of the memorial was not without controversy - in , noted Cook scholar J. Beaglehole wrote to J. Heenan, Undersecretary of Internal Affairs, about the Kopu memorial design as follows: 'This grotesque outrage is the essence and summation of all we have been struggling against since this matter of memorials came up for consideration.
I have delayed comments for some days as I wished to employ only scrupulously moderate language. It is very disheartening indeed. The memorial was moved to a site near the Kopu Hall in The hall was demolished c. From the above analysis, there is no particular reason for the memorial to be at Kopu other than for accessibility to visitors. However, re-siting it on, or closer to, Oruarangi pa would not be particularly sensible, as the pa site is now very difficult to access, and is on private property. A small plaque along the Thames-Paeroa cycle trail, in the vicinity of Oruarangi, may be appropriate, however.
At, or about, the furthest limit of the Endeavour party's voyage up the Waihou River, the party measured a large kahikatea and took some samples of what is now believed to be a matai.
Thames Dating Site - Free Online Dating in Thames (Waikato, New Zealand)
This site is of at least national importance, as Cook's measurement of the kahikatea, and report of vast timber resources, was the catalyst for the prolific ships' spar and kauri timber trades which followed his return to England. The relevant historical information relating to the site where the tree was measured is as follows: We proceeded up the river till near noon, when we were fourteen miles within its entrance ; Before we had walked an hundred yards into the wood, we met with one of them which was nineteen feet eight inches in the girt, at the height of six feet above the ground: having a quadrant with me, I measured its height from the root to the first branch, and found it to be eighty-nine feet: it was as strait as an arrow, and tapered but very little in proportion to its height; so that I judged there were three hundred and fifty-six feet of solid timber in it, exclusive of the branches.
Hawkesworth Cook's Journal is slightly more specific regarding distance from the river mouth From Cook's Journal. Local anecdotal evidence puts the site near the small town of Netherton.
Day Rides:
However, a measurement of nm from the mouth indicates the site was somewhere between the mouth of the Hikutaia Stream and the junction of SH2 with Hauraki Rd known locally as Sarjant's Corner. The article recounts a river journey taken by the local historical society in to commemorate the importance of the Waihou River to local history: 'Having the foregoing in mind as well as the fact that over the years our river has played an important part in the development of Ohinemuri, members of the Paeroa Historical Society decided to arrange a river excursion.
We embarked on the two excellent launches which however could not be overloaded because of snags and shallows and then with the ebbing tide we slipped away downstream towards our anchorage at Turua. Under the helpful guidance of our hosts coupled with that of Mrs Neta Brown and Mr. Pat Murdock our attention was drawn to historic land marks, or rather water-marks, for the very necessary 'stop-banks' often obscured views that pleased early travelers.
In the vicinity of Netherton, the left bank particularly interested us, primarily because of 'Cook's Tree'. For many years this was regarded by the Maoris as 'tapu', hence it survived as a living memento of the famous explorer. Eventually milling interests had it cut down, but the stump [which was hollow] remained for many more years and was photographed by the late Mr.
- Thames Hospital.
- Fun Times !.
- Events in The Coromandel: Find out what's on.
- dating sites for city Whangarei New Zeland?
- best hookup spot in Wellington New Zeland?
Courtenay Kenny [early surveyor in Paeroa]. The site is now the property of Mr.
Hayward who farms at the end of Captain Cook Road. Netherton was an early European settlement of people who milled forests in order to make farms long before there were either roads or drains on the low-lying Hauraki Plains. Whether this was the tree actually measured by Cook is open to speculation. An obvious issue is: how was it known and remembered, in an area whether there would have been numerous kahikatea of the same age and size. However, it is possible that iwi members followed Cook's party and observed the tree being measured, or the crew 'cruised' the tree i.
Investigation by the author revealed two historical sources that state that Cook or his crew marked trees with the name of the ship and the date: Beaglehole re a tree at Mercury Bay, and Kitson re a tree on Norfolk Island. Begg and Begg state: 'Maori tradition identifies the tree which Cook measured as a kahikatea which grew on the west [true left] bank of the river near Hikutaia. It was felled for milling just before , and its measurements tallied exactly with those given by Cook. Beaglehole p. Cook and Banks were in the great forest of kahikatea Mr Leslie G. Kelly tells me that their [Cook's] activities were watched by Maoris close by, and the tree remembered in tradition which, in due course was passed on to Europeans.
It was felled for milling a little before , but abandoned because the trunk was hollow. The site of the tree is given by Mr Kenny as almost due west of the Hikutaia railway station, on the west side of the river and close to the Cook Road.
Date night !! - Nakontong Thai Restaurant at Thames
This is consistent with the historic location of the tree site visited by the author and described below, which construction shows is on a 'true' bearing of degrees from the old Hikutaia station site - due west being degrees. It is likely that Kenny was at the site of the stump when he heard the whistle or saw smoke from the locomotive as it was entering or leaving the station, which was only about 2 km away.
Being a surveyor, he was probably carrying a prismatic compass, which would have allowed him to record a bearing. It also establishes the latest possible felling date as , as that was the year the Thames - Paeroa railway opened. This tends to imply that the tree was still standing in - the year of publication of Kirk's book. Thames historian T. Toss Hammond , in a hand-written manuscript undated but probably c. This historic tree was still standing when Bagnall Bros were cutting out the kahikatea forest in the latter part of last century [19th]. This tree was known to the bushmen as 'Captain Cook'.
The race will start in Tairua and travel in an anticlockwise direction through Whitianga, Coromandel Thames and back to Tairua. It is also one of the most scenic and varied with the route travelling through sub tropical forest, pacific coastlines, rural farmland and the Pohutukawa coastline of the Hauraki Gulf. Read more This race is for professional and semi professional riders who are likely to complete the Mito Q K2 course in less than 5.
Total km.