Ti Point
Ti Point is an area off Omaha Beach in the small New Zealand village of Leigh, located in the Rodney District. Ti Point is situated very close to Leigh and Goat Island, and is just over one hour drive north of Auckland. It is used for fishing, boating, hiking, rock climbing and yachting, and is under governance of the Rodney District Council, just north of Whangateau. When Europeans arrived in New Zealand, there were no Māori inhabitants of Ti Point, though there were thriving communities all around, in what would become Leigh and Omaha. The remains of an  ancient Pa (a fortified camp or village) can be seen just above the point itself. The first European to settle Ti Point was William Arthur Torkington, a builder and carpenter from Manchester, England. Several of William's descendants still live on Ti Point, and in the surrounding areas, and one of the few remaining buildings built by William, a church, can be seen in nearby Matakana, at the Matakana Country Park. Wine-making. Since the late 1990s, wine has been produced at the Ti Point Winery, in the Matakana wine region. Their wines have won gold medals at several wine  shows, including the Spiegelau International Wine Competition and the New Zealand International Wine Show. Ti Point Reptile Park. Ti Point Reptile Park is the only zoo in New Zealand specialising in reptiles. Ivan Borich founded the park in 1972 and still privately owns and operates it as of September 2020. The park contains a wide variety of reptiles, including tortoise, lizards, and Tuatara – a species of lizard only found in New Zealand. Although the park specialises and contains predominantly reptiles, the park began as a traditional zoo, and still houses Capuchin monkeys and a Cockatoo.