Golden Bay (New Zealand)
The Golden Bay is a bay at the north end of the South Island of New Zealand . Located in the area of the bay, Golden Bay Ward , a subdistrict of the Tasman district , is named after the bay.
The Golden Bay lies at the transition between the Tasman Sea and the Cook Strait . It extends in north-south direction over 45 km. The northern boundary is the elongated Spit Farewell Spit , near its eastern end of the lighthouse Farewell Spit Lighthouse stands. In the south, Separation Point in Abel Tasman National Park forms the border to the larger neighboring bay, Tasman Bay .
geography
The northern part of the bay is barely populated, in the south lies the small, densely populated plain around the mouth of the Takaka River . In between lies the small town of Collingwood . The second major tributary to the bay is the Aorere River .
history
The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman anchored in this bay in 1642 after being the first European to sight New Zealand a few days earlier.
One could not communicate with the Māori approaching in Waka . After the Māori attacked a dinghy of the ship and killed four crew members and larger numbers of Māori on the shore, possibly to attack, gathered, Tasman left the bay and gave it the name Murderers Bay ("Murderer's Bay"). The name common today was given to the bay in 1769 by the English explorer James Cook .
Coordinates: 40 ° 40 ′ S , 172 ° 50 ′ E