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COMMUNITY  OUR VALUES  HISTORY  EVENTS  GIG GUIDE  FUN SCROLL  HOT LINKS  GALLERY  FREE STUFF  QUOTES  STREET MAP  SIGNING UP  NEWSLETTER  SUBSCRIBE	PRE EUROPEAN        The Karangahape Road are has in general been directly and continually linked with the development of Auckland since the earliest times. Its importance and significance historically speaking cannot be over estimated. Much of the historical significance of the defined Karangahape Road Historic Area (together with other parts of Karangahape Road that fall outside the proposed area) is due to its strategic location to the central business district of the Queen Street Valley, and the harbour. Since Pre-European times the Karangahape Road ridge has constituted a vital "node" for the progressive means and systems of transportation in Auckland. For the Maori the ridge was used to walk the early route to the Manukau Heads, from the inner isthmus area. It is also said that the ridge was used to access the harbour from Mt Eden. What does Karangahape mean? Nobody knows for sure where the name originated as this knowledge has been lost in the mist of time. Different authorities give different meanings. I’ll give you some of the interpretations and you can believe the one that most appeals to you. The Williams Dictionary states that ‘karangahape’ means mollusc or shellfish, but gets very vague on additional information, or where the information came from. Another approach is to break karangahape up into several words: ‘ka’ means human activity, ‘ranga’ means ridge of land, ‘hape’ can mean winding or bending. Taken together we end up with: ‘winding ridge or human activity’. What this human activity was we are not told and can only conclude it was walking along the ridge or working on the ridge. Another interpretation - and somewhat more preferred is: ‘karanga’ means to call on, visit or welcome, and it just so happens that an important Maori chief called Hape once lived over the Manakau harbour. ‘Hape’ literally means crooked or bent but may well have referred to Chief Hape since the Maori had a habit of naming people after prominent features or disabilities, just like we give nicknames to people. ‘Karangahape’ can then be interpreted as ‘calling on Hape’. For the Waitemata tribes to visit or call on Hape they probably climed the K Road ridge which was frequently a starting point for journeys.
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