Stokes Point (also known as Northcote Point) is at the northern end of the Harbour Bridge, which connects Downtown Auckland to the North Shore. It is also the location of the historic Te Onewa Pā and has spectacular views across the Waitematā Harbour.
Visiting the point provides an up-close perspective of the bridge and pre-bridge Māori and European history. There are historic villas, other buildings, and a monument to three workers who died in the bridge's construction. During the redevelopment of the area under the bridge in the early 2010s, The Trestle Leg Series (designed by Boffa Miskell and artist Catherine Griffiths) was added to eight of the bridge legs. This included engraved poetry and prose. There is also a fabulous pou carved by Reuben Kirkwood, a reminder of the location’s people and stories.
Local iwi fished in the bay and gathered berries and roots from the nearby forests in pre-European times. The imposing presence of Te Onewa Pā, high on the edge of the cliffs around Stokes Point, protected them. You can still get a sense of a fortified village with trenches that protected the point against attack from the north. The path crosses the main trench as you access the pā site. Onewa" means "divided earth," referring to the trench across the headland.
When Europeans arrived, they called the point Rough Point after Auckland’s first harbourmaster, Captain David Rough. It was renamed Stokes Point for the captain of the Acheron who surveyed the Waitematā Harbour. A ferry service between Downtown and Stokes Point has long existed, supporting the relatively early development of the community of Northcote long before the Harbour Bridge was built in the 1960s. This service still operates today.
You can access the point and pā on either Queen Street or Princes Street, which both run south on the west side of the motorway. From the south end of Queen Street, you can walk down to the Northcote Ferry Terminal or find the track down to Halls Beach.
Auckland City also describes a walk. Stokes Point Path connects the point to the historic Northcote Village and Sulphur Beach on the east side of the motorway.
