Slipper Island

{{Short description|Island of New Zealand}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox islands | name = Slipper Island | local_name = ''Whakahau'' (''[[Māori language|Māori]]'') | image_name = LANDSAT 2005 Slipper Island Whakahau.jpg | image_caption = [[LANDSAT]] image of Slipper Island and surroundings | locator_map = | map_caption = | nickname = | location = [[Waikato]] region | coordinates = {{coord|37|03|S|175|56|E|region:NZ_type:isle}} | archipelago = | total_islands = | major_islands = | area_km2 = 2.68 | length_km = 2.8 | width_km = 1.7 | highest_mount = | elevation_m = 103 | population = (?) | population_as_of = | density_km2 = | ethnic_groups = | country = [[New Zealand]] | additional_info = }} [[File:NZ110415 Mount Paku 01.jpg|thumb|Slipper (left), Penguin and Rabbit Islands from Mount Paku, [[Tairua]]]] '''Slipper Island''' ([[Māori language|Māori]]: ''Whakahau'') is located {{convert|3|km|mi}} to the east of the [[Coromandel Peninsula]] in [[New Zealand]]'s [[North Island]] and {{convert|8|km|mi|0}} southeast of the town of [[Pauanui]].

==History==

Approximately 18,000 years ago during the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, Slipper Island was connected to the Coromandel by a vast coastal plain. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, after which the island was separated from the rest of New Zealand.<ref name="Niwa">{{Cite web| title = Estuary origins |url=https://niwa.co.nz/te-kuwaha/tools-and-resources/ng%C4%81-waihotanga-iho-the-estuary-monitoring-toolkit-for-iwi/estuary-origins | publisher = [[National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research]]| access-date = 3 November 2021}}</ref> When sea levels were lower, the [[Tairua River]] flowed between modern Slipper Island and [[Shoe Island / Motuhoa]], travelling eastwards towards the Pacific Ocean.<ref name="Niwa"/>

There is evidence that the island was the site of early activity of New Zealand's first [[Māori people|Māori]] settlers on their arrival around 1300AD, principally by the discovery of a tropical pearl shell lure in 2001. There are also eight [[Pā]] sites and other evidence of occupation such as middens. Numerous [[moa]] bone blanks used by early East Polynesian settlers for making fish hooks have also been found. The Island is considered wahi [[Tapu (Polynesian culture)|tapu]], or sacred to [[iwi]], the [[Ngāti Maru (Hauraki)|Ngāti Maru Runanga]] and [[Ngāti Hei]]. Tuokiokio was the last Māori chief, or rangatira, of Whakahau.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11441956|title=Cultural treasure in $7 million island sale|date=2 May 2015|work=New Zealand Herald|access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref>

The island was used as a farm from the mid to late 19th century. More recent farm owners included<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://partofpastnzhistory.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/islands-of-coromandels-eastern-seaboard.html?m=1|title=Part of the Past: New Zealand History Blog - Islands of Coromandel's Eastern Seaboard|last=Ball|first=Anne Stuart}}</ref> the Normans, later of [[Opoutere]], and the Needhams who purchased the island around 1970. About 217ha (95 per cent) of the island was later set up as a resort by the Needham family, Abe and Nora and their 14 children. This was sold to Auckland-based property developer Wendy Weimei Wu in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/67699820/family-fractured-by-sale-of-slipper-island|title=Family Fractured by Sale of Slipper Island|last=Grunwell|first=Rachel|date=12 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331040745/https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/67699820/family%2Dfractured%2Dby%2Dsale%2Dof%2Dslipper%2Disland|archive-date=2018-03-31|url-status=dead}}</ref> The guests and tourists used the then only habitation on the island, the resort of six chalets and the family homestead.<ref>Private Islands Inc. Private Islands Online, {{cite web |url=http://www.privateislandsonline.com/slipperrentocnz.htm |title=Slipper Island, New Zealand, Oceania |access-date=2010-06-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218113858/http://www.privateislandsonline.com/slipperrentocnz.htm |archive-date=2010-02-18 }}</ref><ref name="2018-01-05_stuff">[https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/destinations/nz/100343207/for-rent-nzs-private-island-paradise For rent: Slipper Island, New Zealand’s private island paradise], Brook Sabin, stuff.co.nz, 2018-01-05</ref>

The balance of the island, seven hectares around South Bay, has been subdivided. The television programme ''[[Grand Designs New Zealand]]'' featured the building of a new house on this land in October 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11929087|title=Grand Designs star on $1.5m island sanctuary: 'I wouldn't recommend it'|date=3 October 2017|work=New Zealand Herald|access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref>

Several smaller islets (including Penguin Island and Rabbit Island) are found off its southern tip, and the 40-hectare [[Shoe Island / Motuhoa]] lies to the northwest.

== See also == * [[List of islands of New Zealand]] * [[New Zealand outlying islands]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.slipper.co.nz Official website] * [http://www.slipperisland.com/blog/ Slipper Island Blog]

[[Category:Thames-Coromandel District]] [[Category:Islands of Waikato]] [[Category:Private islands of New Zealand]] [[Category:Sacred islands]]