Shakespear Regional Park

Showcasing the art of Shakespear Regional Park, named after one of the land lord dated in 1883s. The current profound landscape beauty of Shakespear was once a Maori land that transition into a farm land during 1883. Since then, it eventually became into Shakespear Regional Park which is part of the Auckland Regional Park governed by Auckland Regional Council.

Shakespear Regional Park is public recreational park for fishing, sun bathing, swimming, bird watching, tracking, camping and other beach activities.

Wood Pigeon (Top Left), Tui (Top Right),
Pukeko (Bottom Left) and Peacock (Bottom Right)

Bird watching is also another activity that is good for young and old visitors. This is a good place to learn and understand natural native or non-native birds in this thriving bird sanctuary.

This place is also famous forkitesurfing or kiteboarding. Due to the constant strong wind in Shakespear Regional Park, it is an ideal spot for kitesurfing or kiteboarding sport for beginner, intermediate and professional. If you have never heard of kitesurfing or kiteboarding, you probably need to click on those photos above to have a better view of it. “In 1997, specialist kiteboards were developed by Raphaël Salles and Laurent Ness. By 1998 kitesurfing had become a mainstream sport, and several schools were teaching kitesurfing.” Well, if you ever want to try this sport, this is a good place to start with.

History

On 27 April 1866, Ranulph Dacre (an Auckland merchant who had been trading in timber in the Mahurangi area since 1832) purchased land adjoining Hobbs Bay, and in January 1868 he bought the western edge of Okoromai Bay, including McMillan's allotments at Army Bay. In 1866-67 his son, Charles Craven Dacre, settled on the land and constructed a home (which is still standing) at Hobbs Bay. Between 1866 and the early 1870's he ran cattle and a large flock of sheep on this property and also on the Government Reserve which he leased.

The main land purchaser in the area was Sir Robert Hamilton, Baronet of Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire, England. Having purchased the old Dacre property and homestead, he then purchased 148 acres (59 ha) above Te Haruhi Bay and 751 acres (303 ha) adjoining Okoromai and Army Bays on 18 October 1882. In May 1883 he purchased James Dacre's land at Te Haruhi Bay so that he now owned the entire eastern end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula except for the high country adjoining the northern and eastern coastline of the block. Sir Robert Hamilton remained living in England. However, his grandson Robert Henry Anson Shakespear and his wife Blanche moved to the old Dacre homestead and began the long Shakespear family association with the area in 1883.

The outbreak of World War II in 1939 had a major impact on the Shakespear family. The N.Z. Army realised the strategic importance of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula in the protection of the port of Auckland and purchased 321 acres (130 ha) on the north western tip of the peninsula from the Shakespears. Here they developed a major military camp and installed a huge 130 ton gun capable of firing a 3801b shell over a twenty mile range. Stores were barged in to both Te Haruhi and Okoromai Bays by the military and an observation post and concrete gun emplacement were constructed on the Shakespear farm as part of the coastal defence network. After World War II, the Army retained their property as a training base and firing range while the Shakespears continued to develop their farm as a mixed sheep and cattle grazing run.

In July 1967 the Auckland Regional Authority purchased 921 acres (373 ha) from W.R.A. Shakespear for the purpose of developing a Regional Park, although the Shakespear family retained both homesteads.Then in 1975, on the death of Mr R.H.R. Shakespear, both homesteads and the adjoining property passed to the A.R.A., finally ending the Shakespear family's 92 year association with the land.

As usual for each travel experience for Big Footprints, I have included a map of the exact spot where you can have some fun.

Reference(s):

Auckland Regional Council. (n.d.). Shakespear. Retrieved on April 14, 2010 from http://www.arc.govt.nz/albany/main/parks/our-parks/parks-in-the-region/shakespear/

Auckland Regional Council. (n.d.). Archaeology And History Of Human Occupation. Retrieved on April 14, 2010 from http://www.arc.govt.nz/albany/fms/main/Documents/Parks/Parks%20history/Archaeology%20and%20history%20of%20human%20occupation%20of%20Shakespear%20Regional%20Park.pdf

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Kitesurfing. Retrieved on April 14, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitesurfing

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