The Colorful Names of New Zealand

The last two days have been filled with daily tasks, granted they are being done in a gorgeous locale. Trips to the pharmacy, grocery, haircuts, and a dr appt for Liam. He was due for his 6 month immunizations. We found a clinic up the street and they obliged us immediately and with no charge at all! We've also managed some beautiful walks, a trip to the local water park, cooked some yummy meals at home and managed to make a few ice cream trips. And we've been laying out our next few weeks, there is much to see and do here.

When studying the map, I love reading the names of the capes, bays, mountains, etc. They have such colorful, descriptive, and clear-cut names.

Most of the names have been attributed to Captain James Cook who performed the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand in 1769. His discoveries signaled the onset of colonization in New Zealand, and gave birth to the following mountains, bays, capes, inlets, and more.

There is the descriptive Mount Difficulty, with it's brutal terrain. And Mount Aspiring, nearly the highest mountain in New Zealand, but not quite. Of course, the highest is named Mount Cook.

There is Poverty Bay, where Cook first landed in NZ. The Maori fought him off and he was unable to get fresh supplies, thus the name Poverty Bay. The Maori were the first settlers of New Zealand, they were of Polynesian descent. Colonization of NZ dwindled their numbers, but there is still a sizeable Maori population in NZ.

The Remarkables, there are two explanations given for their name. One is that they are remarkable because they are one of only two mountain ranges in the world that run directly north to south. An alternate explanation is that early settlers just thought that they were quite remarkable. And they are, with their high, black, jagged peaks, remarkable.

It is said that upon seeing Doubtless Bay Capt Cook simply said, "This is doubtless a bay". And the name stuck. And when they passed a bay at dusk, it was simply deemed Dusky Bay.

There's the self explanatory 90 Mile Beach. And the Bay of Plenty, where there were plenty of supplies to reprovision his ship.

Doubtful Sound came about when Cook declared that he was doubtful it was navigable under his sail and thus he passed right by it, but not without first naming it.

The Bay of Islands is simply, an enormous bay filled with islands.

Cloudy Bay was named on a day that must've been overcast, although I now read that it's actually seldom cloudy in that region.

When one of Cook's servants was taken by the Maori when trying to organize a fish trade, the bay was deemed Kidnappers Bay.

Cape Foulwind, sounds like an awful place, but apparently it's alright. Cook named it after his ship was blown quite a distance offshore from the point of the cape.

Capt Cook shot a cannon at a boatload of Maori's who were approaching his ship, and rightfully the Maori turned and ran off. Cape Runaway was borne.

Mercury Bay was where Cook and his crew watched the transit of Mercury in the night sky.

In a show of ambivalence, Capt Cook sailed south to this point and then changing his mind, decided to go north again. Hence the name, Cape Turnagain.

And in a move that seems highly unlike him, on a return trip to NZ, he renamed Murderers Bay, Golden Bay. Personally, I think it was just to piss off Abel Tasman (a competing explorer)who named it that first.

Finally, Cape Farewell which was the last land seen by his crew as they headed for home.

And there are many more...