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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Takapuna

page 537

Takapuna.

Takapuna is a fashionable resort on the western shore of the Rangitoto Channel, at a distance of about four miles from Devonport, and is within the jurisdiction of the Waitermata County Council. A first-class metalled road and a reliable and up-to-date line of omnibuses connect Takapuna with Devonport, and in the summer time there is an efficient ferry service with Auckland. The district consists of first-class land, and is dotted with thriving homesteads, gardens, villas and picturesque heights. There is a crescent-shaped shelly beach, washed by the waters of a sheltered channel, and pohutakawas with their crimson bloom overhang the roads. Immediately at the back of the beach—at a distance of about ten chains in a western line—is the famous Lake Takapuna, formed, as the Maori legend says, by some mighty force hurling inverted Rangitoto from the site of the lake, which immediately filled with water. This large body of fresh water, covering an area of one square mile, and filling the cavity of an ancient crater, is seven feet above the level of the neighbouring ocean. The lake is surrounded by brilliantly coloured native bush, and the reflection of the tall crimson-blossomed pohutakawas in the water produces magical effects. There are many fine houses on the shore of the lake and in its neighbourhood, and a commodious hotel and convenient boardinghouses on the narrow isthmus which divides the lake from the channel, afford good accommodation for tourists and pleasure-seeking visitors. Takapuna has stores, a post and telegraph office, churches, and a public school. Devonport obtains its water supply from Lake Takapuna, which has a pumping station on its southern shore.

Lake Takapuna.

Lake Takapuna.

Robertson, Henry S., Grocer, Baker and Confectioner, Lake Store, Takapuna, Auckland. Bankers, Union Bank of Australia. Mr. Robertson was born in Auckland in 1856. He learned his trade with Mr. Waddell, baker, of Hobson Street, and was for some time with some of the leading Napier bakers as a journeyman. In 1875 Mr. Robertson established the first bakery in Suva, Fiji, and for fourteen years carried on a successful business. He then sold out and returned to Auckland, and after trying the grocery business in Symonds Street, removed to Howick, where he carried on business as a baker for some years. Later on he took a lease of his present premises, and has worked up a satisfactory page 538 factory connection. Mr. Robertson is well known in the district as a first-class baker, and his services as a caterer are greatly in demand.

Mackay, Robert, Farmer, Takapuna. Mr. Mackay, a man of wide practical knowledge, has always taken a keen interest in the welfare of his district, and the county of Waitemata, of the council of which he was for twenty years. Mr. Mackay was born in Auckland, in 1844, and educated at Mr. John Gorrie's school and at St. Mary's College, Takapuna. He is a most successful farmer.

Mr. R. Mackay.

Mr. R. Mackay.