Wenderholm Regional Park, Regional park in Auckland Region, New Zealand.
Wenderholm Regional Park covers 127 hectares on a peninsula between the Puhoi River and the Waiwera River. It has two main parts: a sandspit at the Puhoi mouth and the bush-covered Maungatauhoro headland, which rises to 122 m. The park also includes the 130 m by 70 m Mahurangi Island offshore.
The site became Auckland's first regional park in 1965 when local authorities purchased it to protect the land from being subdivided and developed. This creation established a new approach to preserving natural spaces in the region.
Māori knew the flat sandspit as Te Akeake and the southern headland as Maungatauhoro, part of a wider area called Te Pūhoi. The name Wenderholm was given by Robert Graham, said to be after a Swedish friend's word for 'winter home'. A carved pouwhenua stands near Couldrey House at the start of the Maungatauhoro Te Hikoi track.
Vehicle access and picnicking are limited to 6:00–21:00 in summer and until 19:00 in winter, while pedestrians may enter year-round. The campsite sits in the bay by the Pūhoi River and usually needs booking ahead. The 2 km Maungatauhoro Te Hikoi track starts at the carved pouwhenua near Couldrey House. Access is via the Hibiscus Coast Highway (State Highway 17).
A 60-hectare section has been fenced off from livestock since 1965 as an ecological experiment, allowing forest to regenerate. North Island robins were among the first birds released there in 1999; tūī, kererū and fantails are now common. Australian kookaburras, introduced to Kawau Island in the 19th century, also turn up occasionally.
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