Ripiro Beach

Ripiro Beach
Ripirō Beach
Beach
Ripiro Beach, looking south from near the hamlet of Baylys Beach
Ripiro Beach, looking south from near the hamlet of Baylys Beach
Ripiro Beach is located in New Zealand
Ripiro Beach
Ripiro Beach
Coordinates: 36°03′S 173°50′E / 36.050°S 173.833°E / -36.050; 173.833
LocationNorthland Region
Offshore water bodiesTasman Sea
Dimensions
 • Length107 kilometres (66 mi)

Ripiro Beach is a sandy stretch on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand, extending from the Maunganui Bluff in the north down the Pouto Peninsula to the Kaipara Harbour in the south.

At 66 miles (107 km) long it is the longest driveable beach in New Zealand, longer than the more famous, but erroneously named Ninety Mile Beach further north.[1] It is straight, and backed by high sand dunes for most of this length. The beach incorporates the coastal settlements of Baylys Beach, Glinks Gully and Omamari.

The swamp at Omamari was drained in 1898, in order for the area to be dug for kauri gum.[2]

This beach is home of the famous local shellfish delicacy called the toheroa. Overexploitation in the 1950s and 1960s caused the population of the shellfish to decline enough that public gathering of the shellfish is now prohibited.[1]

It is the site of numerous shipwrecks, with 110 confirmed shipwrecks on the Ripiro Beach and neighbouring Kaipara Harbour recorded between 1834 and 1994.[3] Notable ships wrecked on Ripiro Beach include the French Corvette L'Alcmene (1851)[4][5][6] and the yacht Askoy (1994).[7][8][9][10]

  1. ^ a b Carbery, Sara. "Te Kaitiaki Toheroa". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. ^ Hayward, Bruce W. (1989). Kauri Gum and the Gumdiggers. The Bush Press. p. 11. ISBN 0-908608-39-X.
  3. ^ "Quakes and big tides work for wreck spotter". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  4. ^ "The story of the wrecked L'Alcmene". Stuff.
  5. ^ "'Mad' Tom Davey's other granddaughter, Mary Scott". Pauline Conolly.
  6. ^ "Shipwreck Databases". Western Australian Museum.
  7. ^ "Askoy II refloated in Belgium 30 years after being wrecked on Northland beach". The Northern Advocate.
  8. ^ "Battered Askoy II ready for big voyage home". NZ Herald.
  9. ^ "Askoy II remains stranded". Stuff. January 31, 2009.
  10. ^ "Iconic ship released from sand". Stuff. January 31, 2009.