Bulli Point ( mi, Te Pōporo, officially
gazetted as Te Pōporo / Bulli Point) is a
point on
Lake Taupō, in the central
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. The point is a popular spot for rock jumping.
Location
Bulli Point sits in
Motutere Bay Motutere may refer to one of several locations in New Zealand's Waikato Region:
*Castle Rock (Waikato), a mountain which has the alternative Mãori name ''Motutere''
*Motutere, New Zealand, a township on the shore of Lake Taupõ
** Motutere Bay, an ...
on the eastern side of
Lake Taupō. It lies close to
State Highway 1, less than one kilometre east of
Motutere.
Naming
The name ''Te Pōporo'' is a
Te Reo Māori name taken from the
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 ...
that once stood on the hill above the point.
It was one of several important pā located between
Motutere and
Hatepe. The pā may have been named after Pōporo, a Māori name for ''
Solanum aviculare'' and ''
Solanum laciniatum
''Solanum laciniatum'' is a soft-wooded shrub native to the east coast of Australia, notably Victoria and Tasmania. It also occurs in Western Australia and New Zealand, where some authorities consider it to be introduced. It is similar to ''S ...
'', a local shrub with white to blue-purple flowers, and yellow to orange fruit,
sometimes called bullibulli.
A point on the western side of the lake,
Te Poroporo Point,
also contains a word for the same shrub, ''Poroporo''.
The origin of the name ''Bulli Point'' is unclear. Toitū Te Whenua's New Zealand Gazetteer suggests it may be a contraction of ''Bull Island Point'', as this is what it was recorded as on NZMS 3 N102-6 Te Rangiiti.
In popular culture
*
Lorde
Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...
mentions jumping off of Bulli Point in her song "Oceanic Feeling".
References
Lake Taupō
Māori history
Taupō District
Landforms of Waikato
{{Waikato-geo-stub