Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock
{{Short description|Volcanic rock at the mouth of the Manukau harbour}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock
| native_name = Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe
| native_name_link = Māori language
| native_name_lang = Māori
| sobriquet =
| map_image = {{infobox mapframe|zoom=11}}
| image_name = Ninepin Rock, Whatipu.jpg
| image_size = 270px
| image_caption =
| image_alt =
| image_map =
| map_alt =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_label =
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_relief =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|-37.050449|174.503682|format=dms|type:isle_region:NZ|display=inline,title}}
| etymology =
| location = Auckland
| waterbody = Manukau Harbour, Tasman Sea
| area_m2 =
| area_footnotes =
| rank =
| length_m =
| length_footnotes =
| width_m =
| width_footnotes =
| coastline_m =
| coastline_footnotes =
| elevation_m = 29
| elevation_footnotes =
| highest_mount =
| country = New Zealand
| country_admin_divisions_title = Auckland
| country_admin_divisions =
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 =
| country_admin_divisions_1 =
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 =
| country_admin_divisions_2 =
| country_capital_type =
| country_capital =
| country_largest_city_type =
| country_largest_city =
| country_capital_and_largest_city =
| country_largest_city_population =
| country_leader_title =
| country_leader_name =
| country_area_km2 =
| country1 =
| country1_admin_divisions_title =
| country1_admin_divisions =
| country1_admin_divisions_title_1 =
| country1_admin_divisions_1 =
| country1_capital_type =
| country1_capital =
| country1_largest_city_type =
| country1_largest_city =
| country1_capital_and_largest_city =
| country1_largest_city_population =
| country1_leader_title =
| country1_leader_name =
| country1_area_km2 =
| demonym =
| population =
| population_as_of =
| population_footnotes =
| population_rank =
| population_rank_max =
| density_km2 =
| density_rank =
| density_footnotes =
| languages =
| ethnic_groups =
| timezone1 =
| utc_offset1 =
| timezone1_DST =
| utc_offset1_DST =
| website =
| additional_info =
| footnotes =
}}
Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock is an island at the mouth of the Manukau Harbour, at Whatipu in the Waitākere Ranges area.
Geology
The island is a volcanic plug of the Miocene era Waitākere Volcano, composed of stratified rudite and intrusive andesite.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/03036758.1977.10427155| volume = 7| issue = 2| pages = 123–141| last1 = Hayward| first1 = B. W. |author-link1=Bruce W. Hayward| title = Miocene volcanic centres of the Waitakere Ranges, North Auckland, New Zealand| journal = Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand| date = 1977}} The rock is what remains of one of the volcano's funnel-shaped vents on the eastern side of the mountain, which was uplifted from the sea between 3 and 5 million years ago.{{cite book |last1=Hayward |first1=Bruce |author-link1=Bruce Hayward |chapter=Land, Sea and Sky |pages=10, 13–14 |editor-last1=Macdonald |editor-first1=Finlay |editor-link1=Finlay Macdonald (editor) |editor-last2=Kerr |editor-first2=Ruth |title=West: The History of Waitakere |publisher=Random House |date=2009 |isbn=9781869790080}} The island is a volcanic plug of the Miocene era Waitākere Volcano, composed of stratified rudite and intrusive andesite.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/03036758.1977.10427155| volume = 7| issue = 2| pages = 123–141| last1 = Hayward| first1 = B. W. |author-link1=Bruce W. Hayward| title = Miocene volcanic centres of the Waitakere Ranges, North Auckland, New Zealand| journal = Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand| date = 1977}} The rock is what remains of one of the volcano's funnel-shaped vents on the eastern side of the mountain, which was uplifted from the sea 17 million years ago. As the volcano aged and eroded, the vent filled with collapsed lava, scoria and volcanic bombs, until it formed into its modern-day shape.{{cite book|title=Out of the Ocean, Into the Fire |last1=Hayward |first1=Bruce W. |author-link1=Bruce Hayward |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-473-39596-4 |publisher=Geoscience Society of New Zealand |pages=116–117}}
History
The traditional name for the rock, Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe, refers to the Polynesian navigator Kupe. According to Te Kawerau ā Maki oral history, Kupe chanted a karakia (ritual song) and cast his marowhara (traditional clothing) into the sea, causing the Tasman Sea to become too rough for his pursuers to catch up to him.{{Cite book| editor-first=James| editor-last=Northcote-Bade |title=West Auckland Remembers, Volume 2 |year=1992 |publisher=West Auckland Historical Society |isbn=0-473-01587-0 |chapter=Wai Karekare - 'The Bay of the Boisterous Seas' |first1=Graeme |last1=Murdoch |pages=7–28}}{{Cite web |url=https://gazetteer.linz.govt.nz/place/54929 |title=Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock |website=New Zealand Gazetteer |publisher=Land Information New Zealand|access-date=21 May 2022}}
The island was referred to by various variations of the name Ninepin Rock by European settlers, including Ninepins Rock and The Nine Pins. In the mid-19th century, Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock was an island at high tide, however over time joined the mainland, due to the changing sand dunes of Whatipu.{{Cite journal| pages = 168–196| last = McLean| first = RF| title = Recent coastal progradation in New Zealand| journal = Landform Evolution in Australasia| date = 1978}}
In the 1860s, a signal mast was constructed on Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe / Ninepin Rock, to aid the logging communities of the area,{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/0028825X.2005.9512952| volume = 43| issue = 1| pages = 223–244| last1 = McK. Pegman| first1 = Andrew P.| last2 = Rapson| first2 = G. L.| title = Plant succession and dune dynamics on actively prograding dunes, Whatipu Beach, northern New Zealand| journal = New Zealand Journal of Botany| date = 2005| s2cid = 85119481}} and ships that navigated the mouth of the Manukau Harbour. The island is now the location of a trig station.{{Cite web |url=https://gazetteer.linz.govt.nz/place/4034 |title=Ninepin |website=New Zealand Gazetteer |publisher=Land Information New Zealand|access-date=21 May 2022}}