Ōnahau Bay is a large bay in Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand, just north-east of Grove Arm and meeting it at Houhou Point.

Naming

The meaning of the name is unclear. On the Western side of the bay is a hill called Ōnahau, either the bay's namesake or named for it. The name is also used for Ōnahau River and Little Ōnahau River in the Tasman District.

Local geographies

Fence Bay

Fence Bay is one of three bays that sit in the back of Ōnahau Bay, along with Waterfall Bay and Mistletoe Bay. It was named for a fence that climbed a steep border between the farms of Vogel and Gullery in the middle of the 20th century.

Mistletoe Bay

Mistletoe Bay is one of three bays that sit in the back of Ōnahau Bay, along with Waterfall Bay and Fence Bay. Mistletoe is likely a reference to one of New Zealand's nine native mistletoes, the most likely culprits being

Peraxilla tetrapetala ''Peraxilla tetrapetala'', or red mistletoe, is a parasitic plant in the family Loranthaceae, endemic to New Zealand and found on both the North and South Islands. The Māori names for the plant are pikirangi, pirirangi and roeroe. It is a shru ...

(pirirangi/pikirangi), Peraxilla colensoi (pirita/pirinoa) and Alepis flavida (pirita/pirinoa), as they commonly grow in beech forests like the

Nothofagus solandri ''Nothofagus solandri'' var. ''solandri'', commonly called black beech, is a variety of the tree species ''Nothofagus solandri'', endemic to New Zealand. Black beech occurs on both the North and the South Island at low altitudes up to the mounta ...

(tawairauriki/tawhairauriki) forests historically found along Queen Charlotte Sound.

Waterfall Bay

Waterfall Bay is one of three bays that sit in the back of Ōnahau Bay, along with Mistletoe Bay and Fence Bay. The bay is home to at least one magnificent waterfall, from which it draws its name. The bay is home to pūrātoke glow-worms, bioluminescent plankton and stingrays.

Torapapa Point

Torapapa Point is located on the eastern tip of Ōnahau Bay. The point was labelled "Toropapa Point" on maps until sometime between 1949 and 1959.

Dartmoor Bay

Dartmoor Bay is located near the western tip of Ōnahau Bay, just north of Houhou Point. Dartmoor Bay derives its name from a cottage built there named Dartmoor owned by Mr Herbert Yelverton Monro. Herbert owned the Bankhouse run and station in the fork of the Wairau and Waihopai rivers in

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

. The Monro family has no known connection to Dartmoor in the United Kingdom.

Postman's Rock

Postman's Rock is a large rock just west of Torapapa Point. The rock is named for when the Queen Charlotte Sound mail-boat was a rowboat and would deposit mail upon it for the sound's residents to row out and pick up. Alternatively known as Post Office Rock.

References

{{Tōtaranui / Queen Charlotte Sound, state=expanded Bays of the Marlborough District Marlborough Sounds