Waikato Region - Geography

Geography

To the west, the region is bounded by the Tasman Sea. The coastal region is largely rough hill country, known locally as the Hakarimata Range, though it is more gently undulating in the north, closer to the mouth of the Waikato River. The coast is punctured by three large natural harbours: Raglan Harbour, Aotea Harbour, and Kawhia Harbour. The area around Raglan is noted for its volcanic black sand beaches, and also for its fine surfing conditions at Manu Bay and Ruapuke beach.

To the east of the coastal hills lies the broad floodplain of the Waikato River. This region has a wet temperate climate, and the land is largely pastoral farmland created by European settlers draining the extensive natural swamps, although it also contains undrained peat swamp. It is in the broad undulating Waikato Plains that most of the region's population resides, and the land is intensively farmed with both livestock, mainly dairy cattle but with sheep farming on the hillier west margins, and crops such as maize. The area around Cambridge has many thoroughbred stables.

The north of the region around Te Kauwhata produces some of New Zealand's best wines. Dozens of small shallow lakes lie in this area, the largest of which is Lake Waikare.

To the east, the land rises towards the forested slopes of the Kaimai and Mamaku Ranges. The upper reaches of the Waikato River are used for hydroelectricity, helped by several large artificial lakes in the region's south-east. The lowest and earliest-created such lake is Lake Karapiro, now developed as a world-class rowing centre, where the world championships were held in 2010. The river flows out of the country's largest lake, Lake Taupo, which is served by several important fishing rivers such as the Tongariro, on the Central Plateau, draining the eastern side of Mount Ruapehu and its neighbours.

The climate is mild and temperate with moderate rainfall of 1200–1600mm per annum, with the higher western hills having the most rain. Summers are drier with maximum temperatures of 25–28 degrees Celsius. Summer droughts occur one year in ten. Winter maximums are 12–15 degrees Celsius. The lower areas experience regular morning fog, under anticyclonic conditions, which burns off by late morning to produce many still, clear sunny days. Morning frosts are also common during winter anticyclones. Another distinctive feature is the low average wind speed in the interior basin due to the sheltering influence of the hills and mountains to the west and south-west. The prevailing winter wind is from the south-west. The Waikato has very high sunshine hours by world standards, averaging 2200 hours per year or about 40% higher than in the UK. This results in rapid growth of grass, crops and ornamental plants.