The Peninsula is bounded in the west by rugged cliffs over the Tasman Sea, but it slopes gently to the east, with low-lying pastoral and swamp land along the edge of the Waiuku River and Manukau Harbour.

At the northern tip, the Manukau Heads rises to a 285-metre (935 ft) prominence above the entrance to the similarly named harbour.

[3] The peninsula is relatively sparsely populated, despite its proximity to the centre of Auckland city (which lies 30 kilometres (19 miles) to the northeast).

[5] Historically much of the peninsula was native forest dominated by taraire, with significant numbers of kauri, pūriri, tawa, karaka, kohekohe, tītoki, tōtara and kahikatea.

The name refers to the regret Hoturoa, captain of the Tainui migratory canoe, felt as he left the area.

[5] The west coast of the Āwhitu Peninsula is the former site of Paorae, a flat sand dune land which was a major kūmara (sweet potato) cultivation area for Tāmaki Māori iwi.

[8] The northern shore of the Āwhitu Peninsula around the Manukau Heads is one of the earliest archaeological sites in the Auckland region.

During the event, Apihai Te Kawau of Ngāti Whātua signed, but several Waikato Tainui chiefs refused.

[9] Between 1870 and 1900, the peninsula, alongside neighbouring Waiuku and Karaka were major centres for the kauri gum industry.