General Information RibbonWood Bed and Breakfast accommodation in Warkworth, Matakana Wine Country, north of Auckland, New Zealand

Ribbonwood, Manatu (Plagianthus regius)

A beautiful, lacy, NZ native tree growing on our property.

Links to recommended accommodation:

On the waterfront between Nelson and Abel Tasman National Park.

General Information

Warkworth village is the hub of the historic Mahurangi - Matakana area.

The area was first settled about 800 years ago by Polynesian people, who made epic sea voyages here from Pacific Islands to the north-east of New Zealand. They lived mainly near the water to fish, for transport and tend their gardens.

Unfortunately, early contact with people from the New World, starting in the late 1700s, was devastating. These early European and American adventurers introduced new diseases against which Maori had no natural immunity, and together with the introducion of muskets as an item of exchange, resulting in deadly inter-tribal warfare between the local Tribes and the Ngapuhi Tribe to the north, large scale population decline ensued.

In early to mid 1800s, a new wave of settlers from England and Europe arrived, attracted by the bountiful Kauri forests on the shoreline. The timber was shipped to Sydney for house construction and spars were exported in large quantities to meet the demands of the expansive British Navy.

New communities grew, based on timber milling, ship building, fishing, cement manufacturing, horticulture and farming. Warkworth was one of them. Warkworth is now the commercial centre of the Matakana - Mahurangi area, supporting the vineyards, orchards, farms, light manufacturing, printing, services and tourist industries.

Many exotic holiday homes have been built around the wonderful sheltered waterways and beaches.

The area has become a haven where city people take time out during weekends and holidays to relax.