Kawau Island is in the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana, close to the north-eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. At its closest point it lies off the coast of the Northland Peninsula, just south of Tāwharanui Peninsula, and about by sea journey from Sandspit Wharf, and shelters Kawau Bay to the north-east of Warkworth. It is north of Auckland. Mansion House in the Kawau Island Historic Reserve is an important historic tourist attraction. Almost every property on the Island relies on direct access to the sea. There are only two short roads serving settlements at Schoolhouse Bay and South Cove, and most residents have private wharves for access to their front door steps. The island is named after the Māori word for the shag (cormorant) bird. A regular ferry service operates to the island from Sandspit Wharf on the mainland, as do water taxi services. Geography The island is at its longest axes, and is almost bisected by the long inlet of Bon Accord Harbour which is geologically a "drowned valley". The sheltered location of the bay has made it a favourite stop for yachts for more than a century. Approximately 17,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, Kawau Island was landlocked to the North Island, and surrounded by a vast coastal plain where the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana exists today. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, after which Kawau became an island separated from the rest of New Zealand. History Kawau, though providing little arable land, was well-favoured by Māori for its beautiful surrounding waters, with battles over the island common from the 17th century on. Entrepreneurs from New South Wales purchased the island in 1840, and shortly afterwards James Forbes Beattie formed the Kawau Company, intending to mine copper on the island. Miners from Falmouth, Cornwall were brought over for the operation, later joined by smelters from Wales, once it was discovered that unmselted ore was a fire hazard for ships, and an ore smelting operation was begun on the island. A rival company, funded by Frederick Whitaker and Theophilus Heale, was granted land immediately outside of the Kawau Company's land grant, giving them control of the wharf. The rival company created shafts underneath the Kawau Company's land, which led to a confrontation when miners from the Kawau Company