Te Korowai-o-Te-Tonga Peninsula
Te Korowai-o-Te-Tonga Peninsula, also known by its former name of the South Kaipara Peninsula, is a long peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand, extending north along the western edge of the Kaipara Harbour for some from near Helensville to the harbour's mouth. The peninsula was officially renamed in 2013 as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement. The name, which is Māori for "The cloak of the south", reflects the peninsula's geographical role in guarding the southern half of the Kaipara Harbour from the Tasman Sea and prevailing westerly winds. The mouth of the Kaipara Harbour separates the peninsula from the larger Pouto Peninsula to the north.
The Peninsula is mostly low-lying or gently undulating, rising to only some at its highest point. It is bounded in the west by the Tasman Sea, with the long beaches of Te Oneone Rangatira Beach and Muriwai Beach along its Tasman coast. The settlement of Muriwai lies immediately to the south of the peninsula.
Inland from the Tasman Sea coast is the long strip of Woodhill Forest, which is bounded in the east by a string of low-lying lakes, of which the largest and northernmost is Lake Rototoa. To the peninsula's east lie numerous small streams and inlets which feed Kaipara Harbour. The northern tip of the peninsula is dominated by a large area of sand and mud which is an important site for wading birds.
