Te Whau Point

Blockhouse Bay Surf Lifesaving Club

Blockhouse Bay Surf Lifesaving Club

In the late 1930s, a group of young Blockhouse Bay men formed the Blockhouse Bay Surf Lifesaving Club.

They took their training very seriously and were coached by Barney Clews. During the week the club members would train at Blockhouse Bay beach doing exercises on the shore, and swimming across from Te Whau Point to the sandbank and back again. On Friday nights they caught a bus to Karekare, where they stayed in the clubhouse over the weekend and did their surf training, before travelling back to town on Sunday night.

Continue reading

Notes on some features of the Manukau coastline

Notes on some features of the Manukau coastline,

from Green Bay to Onehunga

A.W.Glen, November 2006

Green Bay

Green Bay is at the western end of the Blockhouse Bay Historical Society’s bailiwick. The bay is a small indentation in the coastline on the inner channel. This bay was the southern exit of the old Maori portage from the Waitemata to the Manukau, via the Whau River. The route was a direct path from the Kaipara Harbour through the portage to the Waitemata, and then inshore to the entrance to the Whau river between the Te Atatu and Rosebank Peninsulas. A stream from the Whau branched off at New Lynn and followed up on the east side of the present day Portage Road, to near Craigavon Park. Another smaller stream exited from Craigavon Park and flowed to the Manukau on the east side of Green Bay Road. This stream entered the Manukau beside the beach facilities building and its course is a deep gully between the road and Motu Moana Camp, the Scout Association’s property on the east side of the gully. There has been some filling and land reforming for roads and facilities between the Connaught and Kinross Road intersections. The distance between the two streambeds was about 200 yards. The streams, although not large, would have had enough water in them, at most times of the year, to lubricate mudslides so that the canoes only had to be carried a short distance. At the west end, a short distance from the beach is a rock breastwork, part of the sewerage holding tank which is no longer in use, the sewerage being pumped to the Mangere Treatment Plant.

Continue reading

Quarantine station at Blockhouse Point

Quarantine station at Blockhouse Point

Researched by Bill Glen

In the early 1860s the Government was concerned that, although immigrants were checked before boarding ship for New Zealand, some passengers took ill on the voyage. There was a risk of contagious diseases entering the country, putting the public at risk. On 12 January 1864 at Government House in Auckland, quarantine regulations were signed into law by Governor George Grey. These regulations required quarantine stations to be set up at main ports, and described the actions to be taken by ships’ masters, harbour boards and provincial governments, to protect the country from introduced diseases.

Continue reading

Te Whau Point — the decline of a landmark

Te Whau Point — the decline of a landmark

On early survey maps of the Whau area, now Blockhouse Bay, and charts of the Manukau Harbour, Te Whau Point is clearly marked. Jutting into the sea it acts as a protective arm for the beach. The pine tree-crowned cliff face could clearly be seen when coming up the harbour and made an attractive landmark for boaties.

Te Whau Point in the 1880s, showing mangroves in the bay

Continue reading

The Blockhouse Bay sea wall

The Blockhouse Bay sea wall

Before the early 1930s Blockhouse Bay, being typical of the Manukau Harbour, was a muddy tidal exit for two streams. On 23 April 1930 Mr. P. Turner convened the first meeting of the Blockhouse Bay Improvement Association, with a committee of eleven interested local residents. Its first aims were to protect the foreshore and improve the reserves. The Auckland City Council was approached about building a seawall to protect the reserve area from erosion from the sea which was taking place, and improve the reserve. The Association was prepared to contribute £200.00 ($400.00) — at the time a large amount of money — towards the cost of the project.

Continue reading