Kupe's Sail

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Kupe's Sail east of Palliser Bay

Kupe's Sail is a rock with a special appearance on the south coast of the North Island of New Zealand .

geography

The rock is located a good 2 km northwest of Cape Palliser , the southernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand. It rises directly from the coast, rising at an angle of around 45 degrees, up to a height of around 100  m . Its surface, sloping towards the coast, is flat and around 120 m wide. The small settlement Mangatoetoe lies directly to the west of the rock .

Maori legend

The Maori name of the rock is Ngā-Rā-o-Kupe (The Sail of Kupe). According to a legend told by Māori , Kupe , the discoverer of Aotearoa (New Zealand) , camped with Ngake , a kite, on the coast near Cape Palliser . They got into an argument about who could create a canoe sail the fastest. Kupe won the competition. The result is the said rock, like a sail.

geology

From a geological point of view, the rock, which protrudes in a peculiar way from its surroundings, represents a discontinuity . It comes from the Cretaceous period . Cape Palliser , to which this rock is geologically counted, consists of pillow lava that formed underwater around 100 million years ago (other sources assume around 130 million years). Around 15 million years ago, a fossil-bearing sandstone layer had formed in the marine environment on the Grauwacke. The layer was then lifted, thrown up and eroded into today's rock.

natural reserve

The rock is cared for as Kupe's Sail Rock Recreation Reserve by the Department of Conservation .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ngake and Whātaitai the taniwha of Wellington harbor . Ministry of Education , accessed December 20, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b c Stevens : Kupe's Sail . In: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . 1966.
  3. ^ Draft Regional Policy Statement for the Wellington region 2008 . (PDF; 5.5 MB) Greater Wellington Regional Council , accessed December 20, 2015 (English, page 149).
  4. ↑ Palliser Bay . (PDF; 262 kB) Department of Conservation , accessed on December 20, 2015 (English).

Coordinates: 41 ° 36 ′ 18 ″  S , 175 ° 15 ′ 58 ″  E