Tōtaranui is a 1 km long beach and the site of a large campsite in the

Tasman Region Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council, a ...

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 ...

administered by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

(DOC). It is located in

Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a New Zealand national park located between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere at the north end of the South Island. It is named after Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight New ...

toward the northern end of the

Abel Tasman Track The Abel Tasman Coast Track is a long walking track within the Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand. It extends from Mārahau in the south to Wainui in the north, with many side tracks. It is one of two main tracks through the park, the ...

and is often used as a starting or finishing point for the walk. Tōtaranui is noted for the golden colour of its sand, more intense than other beaches in the Park, the result of a high content of

orthoclase Orthoclase, or orthoclase feldspar (endmember formula K Al Si3 O8), is an important tectosilicate mineral which forms igneous rock. The name is from the Ancient Greek for "straight fracture," because its two cleavage planes are at right angles t ...

minerals in the eroded granite sands of the vicinity. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...

gives a translation of "many trees" for .

History

The

Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, who arrived on the ''Kurahaupō'' waka. In the 1600s the iwi settled northwestern South Island, becoming a major power in the region until the 1800s. In 1642, members of Ngāti Tūmat ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

, having been forced out of

Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui is the easternmost of the main sounds of the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand's South Island. In 2014, the sound was given the official name of Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui as part of a Waitangi Tribu ...

by Ngāti Kuri, settled north of the sounds along the coast and may have brought the name Tōtaranui with them. Once a farming settlement, the only permanent residents now are DOC staff. During summer the population swells by up to 1000 campers plus hikers on the track. Water taxi services from

Mārahau Mārahau is a village in the Tasman District of the South Island of New Zealand, approximately north of Motueka. Its location on Tasman Bay and at the southern entrance of the Abel Tasman National Park makes it a popular holiday destination fo ...

link Tōtaranui with other localities around the Park coastline, while a road links Tōtaranui with

Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 runs through Takaka and follows the river valley ...

via Pigeon Saddle. Farming ceased after the foundation of the Abel Tasman National Park in 1942 and forest has been allowed to naturally regenerate through manuka and kanuka to its original mix of

southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

and lowland podocarp.

References

{{Tasman District Beaches of the Tasman District Abel Tasman National Park Tasman Bay