The Wharemauku Stream is notable to visitors and residents of Paraparaumu alike for the fact that it runs underneath the Coastlands Mall, built in 1969 [see photo below, right]. Seeing it straightened, stripped of its indigenous ecology and thrust into such a jarring constructed landscape, many might mistake it for a man-made drain; few would be able to imagine how it might have looked in its natural state before this area was developed for farmland and settlements 150 years ago.

The source of the Wharemauku Stream is in the Maungakotukutuku valley, from where it flows westwards through the Paraparaumu and Raumati Beach areas, before reaching the Tasman Sea on the northern side of Raumati Marine Gardens [see photo below left]. Continue reading →