Poikeke Island is an island off the coast of the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the we ...

in New Zealand.

Geography

The island is located approximately 900 metres north-east of Cathedral Cove, to the east of

Mercury Bay Mercury Bay is a large V-shaped bay on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand. It was named by the English navigator Captain James Cook during his exploratory expeditions. It was first named ''Te-Whangan ...

. It is tidally linked to

Motueka Island (Pigeon Island) Motueka Island, also known by the name Pigeon Island, is an island off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Geography The island is located 1.5 kilometres north-east of Cathedral Cove, to the east of Mercury Bay. It is tidal ...

, a larger island located to the east. Poikeke and Motueka islands are remnants of an eroded

Miocene era The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

, composed of flow-banded rhyolite.

Biodiversity

The island is primarily forested by native New Zealand broadleaf forest. The island's plateau is dominated by tawāpou, with abundant houpara also seen here. The

sooty shearwater The sooty shearwater (''Ardenna grisea'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand, it is also known by its Māori name , and as muttonbird, like its relatives the wedge-tailed shearwater (''A. pacificus' ...

is known to nest on the island.

History

The island is historically significant to

Ngāti Hei Ngāti Hei is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. Ngāti Hei is generally recognised as the dominant tribe of the Mercury Bay area. There has always been much speculation as to the origins of Māori people. Historians agree that Māori arrived in Aot ...

, who are the

mana whenua In New Zealand, tangata whenua () is a Māori term that literally means "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people as a whole. Etymology Accordi ...

iwi for Poikeke Island. During pre-European history, the island was occupied as a fortified

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...

, and the top of the island may have been levelled during this time. 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 ...

landed on the island on 15 November 1769, when it was still actively being used as a pā. The origin of the name Poikeke Island is unknown.

References

{{Thames-Coromandel District Islands of Waikato Miocene lava domes Protected areas of Waikato Thames-Coromandel District Volcanic islands of New Zealand Volcanoes of Waikato Uninhabited islands of New Zealand