Parua Bay is a locality and bay on the northern side of the Whangarei Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. Whangarei is 19 km to the west, and Whangarei Heads are 10 km to the south east, with Munro Bay between the two. The western head is called Manganese Point, and the eastern is Reserve Point. The Nook is a small bay just to the north of Reserve Point.The bay is sheltered and about 4 km wide, with about one kilometer between the headlands. The central bay has deep water, but there are wide intertidal zones around the coast. Motukiore Island is just inside Manganese Point and joined to it by a causeway at low tide, although the only practical access is by water. The contours of a defensive pā on the island are still clearly visible.Solomon's Point divides the bay into two. The point is named after the Māori chief Horomona-Kaikou.The population was 1,941 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 255 from 2001.HistoryRaro-ngaua was a pā on the eastern side of the Parua Bay entrance in the early 19th century. In 1821 or 1822, this pā was attacked by a group of Ngāti Paoa and Waikato warriors, as part of the Musket Wars.In 1838, Thomas Stewart Scott and two partners bought land on the western side of the bay and set up a shipbuilding yard. The Governor Fitzroy, a schooner of about 43ft, was one of the ships built here. Manganese ore lay in lumps on the point to the south of the shipyard, then known as Te Waro but now called Manganese Point. The ore was sold in 1844. In 1849, a hydrographic survey was made of Whangarei Harbour by Captain Lort Stokes in the paddle-steamer HMS Acheron. He named Parua Bay "Bad Maori Bay" and Manganese Point "Annoyance Point".
to add Parua Bay, New Zealand map to your website;
