Fossils at Granny's Bay show that the rocks that are seen on
the cliffs today were formed in deep sea conditions. About 8
million years ago forces within the earths crust uplifted the
land causing stress fractures and faults. The sea has since
eroded the land to form a rock platform, exposing layers of
sandstone and mudstone in the cliff face to the north and south
of Long Bay beach. The alternating sandstone and mudstone is
typical of this region of Auckland. Sea levels have risen
and fallen in the last one hundred thousand years. Today they
are rising at a rate of about one centimetre every five years.
The coastline north of Auckland (including Long Bay) was
settled prior to 1400 by the descendants of those who came to
Aotearoa (New Zealand) aboard the Tainui waka (canoe). From the
mid 1600's until European settlement, the area was
occupied by
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two sub-tribal groups, the Ngati Kahu and the Ngati
Poataniwha,
of Kawerau and Ngati Tai descent. Oneroa (Long Bay) was sold to
the crown as part of the Mahurangi purchase in 1841. However
these two tribes stayed in occupation of the whole coastline
until after the crown bought out their rights in 1854.
The area now occupied by Long Bay Regional Park was acquired as
a whole by the Vaughan family in 1863. Boats and barges off
Vaughan Stream were used to take cattle and sheep to the Auckland
markets. Three generations of the family farmed the land, then
sold it in the early 1960's. The land for the regional park was
purchased by the Auckland Regional Authority (now the Auckland
Regional Council) in 1965. The picnic grounds were once a camping
ground, run by the Vaughan family until 1965.
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The historic Vaughan homestead was built from local kauri and
puriri by George Vaughan in 1862. The house has recently been
renovated by the Torbay Historical Society and is available for
community use - small meetings, seminars, private functions and
weddings. The buildings include a small shed that was used for
kauri gum storage - gum was traded for flour, sugar, material and
other essentials. There are two magnificent Norfolk pine trees
on this site, both grown from seeds collected from by the Vaughan
family, from Norfolk Island. The homestead is at the north end
of Long Bay Beach, at the end of the park roadway..
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Up the hill north of the homestead there is a gun emplacement that
was part of a World War II defence network, protecting the entrance
of the Waitemata Harbour from possible Japanese invasion. Earlier
still the site was defended by the local Maori tribes.
The Reserve comprises 38.5 hectares and is situated on a peninsula at the northeastern
tip of North Shore City.
Long Bay Okura
Reserve
Management Plan
 [1.16MB]
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