Motuoapa is a rural settlement northeast of

Tūrangi Tūrangi is a small town on the west bank of the Tongariro River, 50 kilometres south-west of Taupō on the North Island Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand. It was built to accommodate the workers associated with the Tongariro Power Scheme, Tongar ...

, on the southeast side of New Zealand's

Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With ...

. runs through it. Motuoapa Peninsula, a volcano, rises to the northwest, with a trig point at 497 metres, and Motuoapa Bay is directly to the north. A

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

opened at Motuoapa in 1955 and a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

was built in 1961.

Demographics

Statistics New Zealand describes Motuoapa as a rural settlement, which covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². The settlement is part of the larger Lake Taupō Bays statistical area. Motuoapa had a population of 492 in the

2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...

, an increase of 132 people (36.7%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 255 people (107.6%) since the 2013 census. There were 255 males and 237 females in 213 dwellings. 1.2% of people identified as

LGBTIQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group is ...

. The median age was 58.1 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 60 people (12.2%) aged under 15 years, 48 (9.8%) aged 15 to 29, 213 (43.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 168 (34.1%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 82.9%

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

(

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

); 26.2%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

; 2.4% Pasifika; 2.4% Asian; 0.6% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 6.1% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.6%, Māori by 7.9%, and other languages by 3.7%. No language could be spoken by 0.6% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 18.9, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 29.9%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 3.0%

Māori religious beliefs Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, and 1.2% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 51.8%, and 13.4% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 81 (18.8%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 243 (56.2%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 105 (24.3%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $35,500, compared with $41,500 nationally. 33 people (7.6%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 189 (43.8%) full-time, 57 (13.2%) part-time, and 12 (2.8%) unemployed.

Geology

The highest point of Motuoapa Peninsula, at its north-eastern tip is a

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

volcano that has been dated as last erupting at 34,500 ± 3,100 years ago. The other volcanic formations, some of which the dacite cone is built upon, are older

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

with two different eruption ages of 81,300 and 77,200 years ago. At the time of the rhyolite eruptions, they were initially on the lake floor of the former Lake Huka which was replaced by

after the

Oruanui eruption The Oruanui eruption (also known as the Kawakawa eruption or Kawakawa/Oruanui event) of Taupō Volcano in New Zealand around 25,700 years before present was the world's most recent supereruption, and its largest phreatomagmatic eruption charact ...

of the

Taupō Volcano Lake Taupō, in the centre of New Zealand's North Island, fills the caldera of the Taupō Volcano, a large rhyolitic supervolcano. This huge volcano has produced two of the world's most powerful eruptions in geologically recent times. The vol ...

25,400 years ago. Although the

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

reservoir that fed these Motuoapa eruptions appears to be separate from the one(s) that produced the more recent much larger Taupō eruptions, the type of eruption commencing under water but not staying underwater is felt possible in the future from the Taupō Volcano. A perhaps unexpected characteristic is the thickness of the pyroclastic deposits produced at Motuoapa, as these indicate that such rhyolite dome building which was assumed to be mostly effusive, can have explosive pyroclastic stages that would be very disruptive and dangerous.

References

{{Taupō District Taupō District Populated places in Waikato Populated places on Lake Taupō