The Tamaki River, despite its name, is actually an estuarial arm of the Hauraki Gulf, within the city of Auckland in New Zealand. Due to the marina at Half Moon Bay, it is technically Auckland's third harbour. It extends south for 15 kilometres from its mouth between the Auckland suburb of Saint Heliers and the long thin peninsula of Bucklands Beach, which reaches its end at Musick Point. The inlet extends past the suburbs of Glendowie, Glen Innes, Tamaki, Panmure, and Otahuhu to the west, and Sunnyhills and Pakuranga to the east. It has several smaller "tributary arms" which extend from it: the Pakuranga Creek and Otara Creek in the east, and the Otahuhu Creek and Panmure Basin in the west. The Otahuhu Creek forms the eastern shore of the narrowest point on the Auckland isthmus: here it is less than two kilometres to the waters of the Manukau Harbour, an arm of the Tasman Sea. Portage Road is the location of one of the overland routes between the two coasts. Here the Maori would beach their waka (canoe)s and drag them overland to the other coast, thus avoiding having to paddle around North Cape. This made the area of immense strategic importance in both pre-European times and during the early years of European occupation.
