Moturoa is a steeply sloped island off the coast of
Taranaki
Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...
, New Zealand. It is the easternmost and largest of the
Sugar Loaf Islands, hence its name, which is
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 ...
for "long island". Moturoa is 120 metres long at its longest point, and around 100 metres wide. It is separated from the
Taranaki
Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...
coast of the
North Island mainland by an wide channel. The entrance to
Port Taranaki
Port Taranaki is a port complex located in New Plymouth, 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 ...
lies just to the east.
The island has lent its name to
Moturoa
Moturoa is a coastal suburb of New Plymouth, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the west of the city centre, bordering Port Taranaki and the Sugar Loaf Islands. One of the islands, Moturoa, the largest, shares it ...
, a suburb of
New Plymouth, which lies on the mainland 1.5 kilometres to the southeast.
A cluster of smaller islands, of which
Whareumu (Lion Rock) is the largest, lies some 60 metres off the island's southwest coast.
Habitation
Moturoa is uninhabited, but it and several of the other Sugar Loaf Islands were hunting, fishing and gathering grounds and places of refuge for local inhabitants and the
Taranaki
Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...
and
Te Āti Awa
Te Āti Awa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with around 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in Wellington and aro ...
for hundreds of years.
Blasting Moturoa and Whareumu
In the early 20th century Moturoa and Whareumu were blasted with explosives in the hope to connect the islands to
Mikotahi and the growing port at
Moturoa
Moturoa is a coastal suburb of New Plymouth, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the west of the city centre, bordering Port Taranaki and the Sugar Loaf Islands. One of the islands, Moturoa, the largest, shares it ...
on the mainland. After this was abandoned focus turned to mining
Paritutu, west of
New Plymouth.
The appearance of the two islands was changed greatly as a result of this work.
See also
*
Desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
*
List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plan ...
References
{{Authority control
Islands of Taranaki
Volcanoes of Taranaki
Uninhabited islands of New Zealand
Volcanic islands of New Zealand
Volcanic plugs of New Zealand
Pleistocene volcanoes
New Plymouth