Karaka Bay

Last Updated : 29 Sep 2015
Karaka Bay
A re-enactment of the Treaty of Waitangi signing at Karaka Bay. On the right is the Ngāti Paoa waka taua (war canoe) Te Kotūtiti Tuarua. 

Karaka Bay is a sandy beach in the eastern Auckland suburb of Glendowie. An ideal spot for a picnic, it can be accessed from the Point to Point Walkway, and at low tide you can walk along the silt and rock foreshore to the Glendowie Boating Club.

A historically significant site, Karaka Bay is one of four locations in or around Auckland where New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed in the months following the first signing in February 1840. Chiefs of local iwi and representatives of the Crown signed Māori language versions of the treaty here and at Manukau, Awhitū and Waikato Heads between March and July 1840.

This year marks the 175th anniversary of the treaty signing, and descendants of the Ngāti Paoa signatories commemorated this historical milestone with a re-enactment at Karaka Bay in early March.

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