Ponui Island
 Farmland and native bush on Ponui Island | |
 | |
.svg)  Ponui Island Location in New Zealand & Pacific Ocean   Ponui Island Ponui Island (Pacific Ocean) | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hauraki Gulf |
| Coordinates | 36°52′S 175°11′E / 36.867°S 175.183°E |
| Area | 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 173 m (568 ft) |
| Highest point | Ponui |
| Administration | |
New Zealand | |
Ponui Island (also known as Chamberlin's Island) is a privately owned island located in the Hauraki Gulf, 30km to the east of the city of Auckland, New Zealand.[1][2] The island has an area of 18 km2 and is located to the southeast of Waiheke Island, at the eastern end of the Tamaki Strait, which separates the island from the Hunua Ranges on the mainland to the south.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "long night" for Pōnui.[3]
History
[edit]
The island is the site of some of the earliest archaeological remains of early Māori in the Auckland region, dating to at least the 1400s.[4]
The first record of land purchase for Ponui Island was on 23 September 1826 by the New Zealand Company in their earliest planned venture to colonise New Zealand.[5] Three other Islands were purchased at this time, Pakatoa Island, Rotorua Island and Pakihi Island. It is recorded that the land was sold for one double-barreled gun, eight muskets, and one barrel of gunpowder, with the deed translated and signed by Thomas Kendall, and witnessed by three men from the ship Rosanna and 15 Māori.[6]
In 1853, the island was bought and inhabited by the Chamberlin family.[7] From the 1880s until the early 20th century, stone and sand from the island was extracted for use in concrete structures in Auckland, notably, Grafton Bridge.[8] As well as this, during the early 1900s, a considerable amount of kauri was logged and bush was burnt off for cattle grazing on the southern end of the island.[2]
The island remains privately owned and consists of three farms.[9] The only permanent inhabitants (nine in the 2001 census) are associated with the farms which are predominantly used for sheep.
The island is a popular site for youth camps for organisations such as Scouts.[10] Crusader camps (now under the banner of Scripture Union) have been held on the island since 1932.[11]
Biodiversity
[edit]The island is the home of New Zealand's only feral donkey breed, the Ponui donkey.
Ponui Island's avian fauna include the common native species found in forests; the grey warbler (riroriro), fantail (piwakawaka), silvereye (tauhou), tūī and morepork (ruru).[2] There is also a large population of the North Island brown kiwi.[12]
The island also contains a large amount of ship rats and brown rats, as well as a small population of mice and cats.[2]
Shipwrecks
[edit]The Pupuke, a New Zealand passenger ferry built in 1909, beached at Ponui Island in 1962 at Oranga Bay.[13][14][15] The other shipwreck at Ponui Island was the Australian steel steamer (bought by Auckland machinery merchant Mr. F. Appleton in 1927), the Kurnalpi.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ponui Island (Chamberlins Island), Auckland - NZ Topo Map". Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ a b c d Denny, Kirsty Marie (2009). "The diet of moreporks (Ninox novaeseelandiae) in relation to prey availability, and their roost site characteristics and breeding success on Ponui Island, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand". mro.massey.ac.nz. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.
- ^ Davidson, Janet M. (1978). "Auckland Prehistory: A Review". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 15: 1–14. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42906259. OCLC 270925589. Wikidata Q58677062.
- ^ Jerningham Wakefield ·, Edward (1845). Adventure in New Zealand, from 1839 to 1844: With Some Account of the Beginning of the British Colonization of the Islands. Volume 1. Princeton University: John Murray (published 23 July 2009). pp. 4–5.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "NZMS-0774B". kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- ^ "Frederick Chamberlin - An account of my proceedings since my arrival in New Zealand in 1853, with a diary". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "Auckland Council District Plan - Hauraki Gulf Islands Section - Operative 2013: The history of human settlement of the islands" (PDF). Auckland City Council. 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
- ^ "Woman dies working on farm on Auckland's remote Ponui Island". www.stuff.co.nz. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "Fun in the sun on Ponui Island". Issuu. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "Our Story - Scripture Union NZ". 1 December 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ ResearchSpace at The University of Auckland: The ecology of ship rats (Rattus rattus) on Ponui Island: implications for North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli)
- ^ a b Leahy, Anne (1 January 1960). "Wrecks in Oranga Bay, Ponui Island". DigitalNZ. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "What happened to the steam ferries?". Steam Ferry Toroa. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- ^ Auckland Council Libraries (1966). "Oranga Bay, Ponui Island". kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
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