HAHEI

Hahei is a small settlement near Cathedral Cove on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula, between Cooks Beach and Hot Water Beach. It is approximately 6km south-east of Whitianga and 6km north of Hot Water Beach. The ferry from Whitianga gives fast access to the area. A prominent feature of the beach is Mahurangi Island, which lies on the edge of the Te Whanganui-A-Hei marine reserve.

According to tradition, Hei was one of three brothers who arrived in New Zealand with Kupe. With his family he settled in the area of Oahei, which is now Hahei, and they became the ancestors of the Ngati Hei people. However, in 1818 the Ngati Hei people were attacked by the Nga Puhi tribe and almost completely wiped out. The remnant of the Ngati Hei people fled, leaving the land vacant.

In 1870, Robert Wigmore, the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, purchased land along the Hahei valley where he built a kauri homestead which is still standing today. Robert Wigmore and his wife, Fanny’s burial place is marked by a cairn in the Wigmore Historic Reserve, at the end of Hahei Beach Road alongside the beach.

In 1915, Horace and Walter Harsant purchased the Wigmore property and established a dairy herd, raised pigs, grew fruit and caught crayfish - produce they sold at the nearby store at Coroglen. They delivered their goods by boat and on horseback along the river. During the 1960’s, a descendant of the Harsant brothers developed a camping ground on and subdivided areas off the family farm near the beach into residential sections.

Hahei is a popular holiday destination with a sheltered and safe for swimming white-sand beach. Its resident population is around 300, but in peak holiday periods the population swells to more than 3,000. The town centre has a café, a general store with a gas station, a take-away shop and a dive shop.