historyofmthobson2




 * Mt Hobson is a large scoria cone built by larva coming out [[image:old_mt_hobson.jpg align="right" caption="When the Maoris inhabited Mt Hobson.Photo found on Google images."]]from the crater. The crater has been breached by a small larva flow which devoured the south-western side of the cone. The larva flowed north and south in the tracks of the present day southern motorway. The ancient Maori name for the hill is Ohinerangi, “The dwelling place Hinerangi.”

Its later Maori name Remuera which means the "burnt hem of the garment," arose in the 1700s when a young Hauraki woman was killed and eaten by the Waiohua inhabitants of the pa.

Like all of the other cones in Auckland, Mt Hobson was a defended pa in Pre-European times. Many of the terraces, ditches, storage pits, and maddens from this period are still clearly visible at the top of the hill, except in the north-west where a large flat–topped watertank from 1935 is buried. Its western slopes seen from the Newmarket viaduct are thought to have been hillside kumara gardens.

Vegetation of most of the cone is grass but there are some planted trees especially on the north side. The grassed slopes on the north side above Remuera Rd turn golden in early spring with the flowering of hundreds of daffodils, planted to commemorate all those who gave their lives in the Second World War. **


 * Links: Home, Captain William Hobson, Location of Mt Hobson,Photo Gallery and Bibliography. **