Farm Cove, New Zealand

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Farm Cove is a small suburb in East Auckland, New Zealand. It sits on the eastern shore of the Tāmaki River, in the Howick ward. The area covers about 0.84 square kilometres and had about 2,170 residents in June 2025. The Wakaaranga Creek forms the northern border with Half Moon Bay. The Rotary Walkway Reserve runs through Farm Cove, and near Sanctuary Point you can find a kauri tree fossil forest dating back about 26,000 years.

Farm Cove started as rural land in Pakuranga. In 1843 Joseph Hargreaves bought land and built a home called Butley near where Farm Cove Intermediate is today. Howick began in 1847 as a defensive outpost, with a ferry crossing the Tāmaki River from 1847 to 1865. A dairy farm named Gill operated here and supplied Auckland. The suburb was developed by Fletcher Construction in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was named after Hargreaves’ old house, which was demolished in 1972. The Pakuranga Junior Sailing Club moved here in 1971, and Farm Cove Shopping Centre opened in 1973. Farm Cove Observatory began in 1999.

Schools: Farm Cove Intermediate (years 7–8) has about 498 students and opened in 1980. Wakaaranga School (years 1–6) has about 649 students, opened in 1976; its name means “the resting place of the canoe.” There is also a small public kindergarten behind Wakaaranga Primary School.