waiuku

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Historic settlement, now the service town for a fertile farming and horticultural area 64 km south of central Auckland. This was a traditional area of Ngāti Te Ata. Sited on the Awaroa portage – between the Manukau Harbour and Waikato River – Waiuku was a stopping point for Waikato Māori trading with Auckland.

Meaning of place name
Stream with banks of white clay. A puhi (girl of high rank) came here to choose a husband. The first chief to be presented to her did not impress her despite his good looks, so the family hastily summoned his brother, who was working in the kumara plantation. He scrubbed himself with white clay from the river to make himself presentable (uku was at one time known as 'Māori soap').