Hawke Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui), formerly named ''Hawke's Bay'', is a large bay on the east coast of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand, surrounded by the

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

region. It stretches from

Māhia Peninsula Māhia Peninsula (Maori: or ) is located on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, in the Hawke's Bay region, between the towns of Wairoa and Gisborne. Rocket Lab has set up its Launch Complex 1 close to Ahuriri Point at the southe ...

in the northeast to

Cape Kidnappers / Te Kauwae-a-Māui for "''the jawbone of Māui''" * for "''the fish hook of Māui''" , , type = Cape , photo = Cape Kidnappers.jpg , photo_width = , photo_alt = , photo_caption = Looking northeast towards Cape K ...

in the southwest, a distance of some . Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

, sailing in HMS ''Endeavour'', entered the bay on 12 October 1769. After exploring it, he named it for Sir

Edward Hawke Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, KB, PC (21 February 1705 – 17 October 1781), of Scarthingwell Hall in the parish of Towton, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate , he took part in the Battle of ...

, First Lord of the Admiralty, on 15 October 1769, describing it as some 13 leagues (about ) across. Hawke had decisively defeated the French at the

Battle of Quiberon Bay The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as ''Bataille des Cardinaux'' in French) was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast ...

in 1759.

This part of the New Zealand coast is subject to tectonic uplift, with the land being raised out of the sea. For this reason, the coastal land in this area has significant marine deposits, with both marine and land dinosaur fossils having been found inland. The

Napier earthquake Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

of 3 February 1931 resulted in several parts of the seabed close to the city of Napier being raised above sea level. Because the central mountain ranges come close to the coast at the north end of the bay, much of the bay's northerly coastline has deeply eroded tablelands that end in steep seaside cliffs which descend to narrow beaches. Despite the bay being renamed ''Hawke Bay'', without an apostrophe, the region surrounding it continues to bear the former name of ''Hawke's Bay''. Several medium-sized towns are located in the immediate surrounds of the bay, including

Wairoa Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...

at the mouth of the Wairoa River and its flood plain in the north, the so-called 'twin cities' of Napier and

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in the south, and the town of

Havelock North Havelock North ( mi, Te Hemo-a-Te Atonga) is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of local ...

slightly further inland.

Napier Port Napier Port is in Napier, New Zealand, on Hawke Bay. It is the North Island's second largest export port by tonnage, and is owned by Napier Port Holdings Limited (). The port is connected to the rail network via the Napier Port Branch (Ahuriri ...

serves as the main export port for the region, and is the second largest in the North Island by tonnage.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Landforms of the Hawke's Bay Region Bays of New Zealand