Hurupaki Mountain facts for kids
Hurupaki Mountain is a cool natural landmark located in Kamo, which is a suburb of Whangarei in New Zealand. You can find it between Three Mile Bush Road and Dip Road, about 1.5 kilometers west of Kamo town. If you're driving on State Highway 1, you can often spot Hurupaki Mountain!
What is Hurupaki Mountain Like?
Hurupaki Mountain is a type of volcano called a scoria cone. Imagine a big pile of rocky bits that were thrown out during a volcanic eruption! Scientists think it's about 300,000 years old. It's part of a larger area of volcanoes called the Puhipuhi-Whangarei volcanic field.
This volcanic area is similar to the Auckland volcanic field. Both were formed over a "hot spot" deep inside the Earth. This means they weren't created where two of the Earth's big plates meet, like many other volcanoes.
The Whangarei volcanic field is actually older than the Auckland field. Hurupaki Mountain is probably one of the younger volcanoes in the Whangarei area. There's another volcanic field in Northland called the Kaikohe-Bay of Islands volcanic field. It also has some newer scoria cones and lava flows. Both of these Northland fields are older than the Auckland field.
Hurupaki Mountain is quite steep and has some native bush covering it. It's about 1 to 2 kilometers wide and stands 170 meters tall. People have dug into the west side of the mountain a lot, taking out rock from quarries. One of these quarries shows how the magma changed during the eruption. The east side of the mountain is a great example of a young scoria cone.
There's also a smaller hill, about 400 meters to the east, which is less than 150 meters high. A few houses are built on this smaller knoll. This knoll is the easternmost of three volcanic centers in the area: Hurupaki, Rawhitiroa, and Ngararatunua.
Hurupaki's Past: Before Europeans Arrived
The name "Hurupaki" comes from the Māori language. It means "to cover with a cloak." Long ago, Hurupaki Mountain was a large Māori pa. A pa was a fortified village or settlement. It had many pits and flat areas called terraces. When people lived there, the pa would have been clear of trees. The slopes of the hill were shaped into these flat terraces. These terraces were used for building houses, creating storage pits, and as general living spaces.
The pa has about 70 pits on it. Most of these pits were likely used to store food underground. Things like kumara (sweet potato) and berries, which were grown on the slopes of the hill, would have been kept safe there. Some of the shallower pits and terraces would have had whares built on them. Whares were traditional Māori houses.
A famous Māori chief named Pohe had his pa on Hurupaki Mountain. He was a very important leader in most of the Whangarei district. His descendants still claim this today. Chief Pohe was a trusted helper of Hone Heke, another well-known Māori leader. Heke trusted Pohe to protect the Whangarei Harbour and the Kamo West area, which was known as Nga-rara-i-tunua.
Hurupaki Mountain Today
Today, Hurupaki Mountain is used for different things. Some parts are farmed, with cows and sheep grazing there. There's also a small area where pine trees are grown. The rest of the mountain is covered in beautiful native bush. You can visit the top of the mountain, as there is public access. However, there isn't a special viewing platform once you get there.
