Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay is located at the northeast of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's South Island, to the south of the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels. According to Māori ...

and north of Clifford Bay. In August 2014, the name Cloudy Bay, given by Captain Cook in 1770, was officially altered to Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay, with the Māori name recalling the early explorer

Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is g ...

scooping up oysters from the bay. The area lends its name to one of the best known New World white wines (

Cloudy Bay Vineyards Cloudy Bay Vineyards is a winery based in the Marlborough wine region of New Zealand, with vineyards in both Marlborough and Central Otago. Established in 1985 as one of the earliest wineries founded in Marlborough, Cloudy Bay attracted internatio ...

Sauvignon Blanc) although the grapes used in production of that wine are grown in the

Marlborough wine region The Marlborough wine region is by far New Zealand's largest, accounting for three quarters of the country's wine production, 70% of its vineyard area and 85% of its wine exports. A Geographical Indication in the north-east of the South Island, ...

further inland.

Features

The bay faces

Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A ...

, stretching north-south over a distance of from the southern extremity of the Marlborough Sounds (

Port Underwood Te Whanganui / Port Underwood is a sheltered harbour which forms the north-east extension of Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay at the northeast of New Zealand's South Island, on the east coast of the Marlborough Sounds.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edi ...

) to White Bluffs. Along its length is the delta of the

Wairau River The Wairau River is one of the longest rivers in New Zealand's South Island. It flows for from the Spenser Mountains (a northern range of the Southern Alps), firstly in a northwards direction and then northeast down a long, straight valley in ...

, which reaches the sea at two points. The southern of these forms an entrance to the Big Lagoon, just to the north of White Bluffs. The central point is known as the Wairau Diversion. There is also a swimming beach to the north known as Whites Bay. Fifteen minutes drive from central Blenheim is the coastal community of Rārangi which consists of an original beachfront settlement in the northern end of Cloudy Bay which ranges from the typical New Zealand

bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

or crib along with some high quality homes. It also has a newer large subdivision within the central part of Cloudy Bay nearer to the coastal man-made river which is known as the Wairau Diversion.

History

Archaeological excavations at Wairau Bar indicate that

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

were living there in the 'moa-hunter' period about 1288 to 1300 for a period of about 20 years. This is the oldest and best researched site of early Polynesian settlement in New Zealand. Cloudy Bay was named by Captain James Cook on 7 February 1770.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p.67. Sealers first visited about 1826 and set up stations at Port Underwood, the deep inlet at the north of the bay. They were followed by whalers with

John Guard John 'Jacky' Guard (ca. 1791/92 – 1857) was an English convict sent to Australia who was one of the first European settlers in the South Island of New Zealand, working as a whaler and trader. Early life Guard was born in London in 1791 or 1792 ...

setting up a whaling station at Port Underwood in 1828 with his ship ''Waterloo''. By 1840 there were approximately 150 Europeans in the area, probably the largest concentration in the South Island at that time. Between 1829 and 1832, ''Waterloo'' made three return trips to Sydney per year selling seal skins, flax and whale oil and returning with supplies and trade goods. In 1832 Guard installed Capt Hall as a new master in the Waterloo. On 17 June 1840 the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...

was signed by South Island chiefs at Horahora-Kakahu Island, just off-shore from Port Underwood.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edition, 1979. p.149. It was being transported around the New Zealand coast on HMS ''Herald''. From The Hill

References

{{Marlborough Region, state=collapsed Bays of the Marlborough Region Wine regions of New Zealand Whaling stations in New Zealand Whaling in New Zealand

Features

History

See also

References